
Class _&_ii_ 
Book 5_1^ 



C(piglit'N"_. 



COFITKIGIIT DEPOSIE 




CAPT. JOHN SMITH. 



THE LIFE OF 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 



THE 



FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 



By W. GILMORE SIMMS 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

By G. mercer ADAM 



WITH IL]LUST]t?^T][QNS 



THE PERKINS BOOK COMPANY, 
^96 Broadway, New York, 






-747 



THE LiSRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

APR m t.903 

Copyright Entry 

CUSS a^ XXc. No. 

^ '^ S S" 7^ 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902, 
By E. a. BRAINERD, 



C^7 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I.— CHAPTER L 



John Smith, born in Lincolnshire, England— good family 
—left an orphan at an early age— education neglected by 
Lis guardians— apprenticed to a merchant of Lynn- 
leaves him and goes to France— serves in the Low 
Countries as a soldier — embarks for Scotland — is 
wrecked and narrowly saved from drowning— falls sick 
and becomes a hermit in Lincolnshire 1 

CHAPTER n. 

Revisits the Low Countries — robbed by certain French 
gallants — duel with one of them, whom he wounds — 
received with kindness by the Earl of Ployer — takes 
ship for Italy — is thrown overboard by the Catholics in 
a storm — saved on St. Mary's Isle — is taken off by a 
French vessel, and sails for Egypt — fight at sea be- 
tween the French and a Venetian — Smith travels ov&r 
Italy — goes to Austria and joins the Imperial army. ... 15 

CHAPTER m. 

Smith attracts the notice of the Imperial officers— siege 
of Olympach — he devises a scheme for the relief of the 
place — his telegraphic communication with the besieged 
by means of torches — it succeeds — battle with the 
Turks— relief of Olympach— Smith is rewarded by a 
command of horse in the regiment of Meldritch 26 

CHAPTER IV. 

Siege of Alba Regalis— " Fiery Dragons " of Smith— their 
effect — the city taken by storm — Turks approach for 
relief — battle on the plains of Girke — Smith wounded 
— his horse killed — second battle — Turks routed — Smith 
goes with the Earl of Meldritch into Transylvania, and 

against the Turks , , 32 

iii 



iv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

PAQS 

Siege of the Turkish city of Regall — the Christian knights 
challenged by Lord Turbishaw — lots cast, and Smith 
is chosen to encounter the Turkish champion — kills him 
in sight of both armies, and carries off the head of Turbi- 
shaw, with his armor 40 

CHAPTER VI. 

Smith is challenged by Lord Grualgo, the comrade of 
Turbishaw — accepts the challenge — they meet as before 
in the sight of both armies — Smith is wounded by a 
pistol shot, but carries off the head and armor of 
Grualgo — in turn he sends a challenge to the knights 
of Regall — challenge accepted by Bonny Mulgro — Smith 
is nearly defeated in the combat, but slays the Turkish 
champion 46 

CHAPTER VII. 

Smith honored with a triumph — ennobled by Sigismund, 
Prince of Transylvania — siege of Regall continued — 
Regall stormed — massacre — the army penetrates Wal- 
lachia — battle with Jeremias — Smith's description of the 
battle 51 

CHAPTER VIII. 

War with the Turks continued — Christian army retreats 
— beleaguered by their enemies — Smith's invention of 
fireworks — their success — approach of the Tartar army 
— battle in the valley of Veristhorn — defeat of the 
Christians — Smith wounded, and left for dead among 
the slain — a captive, and sold to the Bashaw Bogall. ... 60 

CHAPTER IX. 

Smith sent to Constantinople, a present to a Turkish dam- 
sel — wins her affections — sent by her for safety to her 
brother, Timour Bashaw — is brutally treated by him — 
beats out the Bashaw's brains, and escapes to Muscovy. 68 

CHAPTER X. 

Smith reaches Ecopolis — is kindly treated by the Lady Cal- 
amata — returns to Transylvania — warmly received by 
Meldritch and Prince Sigismund — goes with a French 
captain to Morocco — accompanies him in a cruise to the 
Canaries — sea-fight with two Spanish vessels, and 
escape of the JFYenchman ,.. 77 



CONTENTS. V 

BOOK II,-CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Smith again in England — colonial settlement and mer- 
cantile adventure — he is greatly interested in the sub- 
ject — English discovery in the New World — Smith joins 
with others seeking to colonize 86 

CHAPTER II. 

Squadron of three small vessels sail from Blackball, in 
December, 1606 — voyage inauspicious — strife among the 
adventurers — Smith taken into custody by his comrades 
— they reach the Chesapeake — is allowed his freedom — 
James river — the site chosen for a settlement 98 

CHAPTER III. 

Smith's enr*-gy and industry — not suffered a sent in 
council — he visits Powhatan — colonists surprised by the 
Indians — their terror at the English firearms — the 
council propose to send Smith to England — he resists 
them — insists upon his trial — is acquitted— obtains dam- 
ages for his injuries, and is admitted to the council 107 

CHAPTER IV. 

Distresses of the colony — evils of the management — in- 
competency of the President — Smith placed at the head 
of affairs— his courage and conduct— improvement in 
condition of the colonists— Smith's encounter and suc- 
cess ^\ ith the savages — conspiracj^ against him among 
the whites — defeats it — punishes the conspirators — ex- 
plores the country — is taken by the Indians 115 

CHAPTER V. 

Smith carried in triumph through the settlements of the 
savages — nearly slain by an Indian father, whose son 
had heen killed in an affair with the v^hites — fears of 
being eaten — is conducted to the hamlet of Powhatan. 130 

CHAPTER VI. 

The power of the Indian emperor— Smith received by him 
in state — is treated with courtesy — his fate discussed — 
he is doomed to die — his head is on the block, and the 
executioner a bout to strike, when the victim is saved by 
the interposition of Pocahontas the child of Powhatan. 138 



Yi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAOB 

Smith is taken into favor— his judicious policy with the 
Indians — his doubts and distresses — conferences with 
Powhatan — treaty — is sent back to Jamestown, and 
reaf^hes the colony in safety — new conspiracy of the 
English to abandon the settlement — quelled by Smith — 
they seek to punish him for the death of two soldiers, 
slain by tlie savages, wlien he was taken prisoner — he 
lays his enemies by the heels 147 



BOOK III. -CHAPTER I. 

Smith's description of the Indians — his management of 
them — his power over them — Newport persuaded to 
visit Powhatan — his fears — Smith's example — the inter- 
view with and description of the Indian emperor — ex- 
change of hostages and courtesies — trade . . ^^ 157 

CHAPTER II. 

Mutual policy of the red and w^hite men— equal sagacity 
of Smith and Powhatan — cold winter — destruction of 
Jamestown by fire — blunders of the proprietors, and 
ridiculous search for gold 170 

CHAPTER III. 

Preparations for invading the Monacans — bad practises 
of the sailors and the colonists — insolence of the Indians 
— their thefts — Smith drives them before him — the 
effects of liis resolution upon them — conspiracy against 
the colony — Pocahontas sent to Jamestown with apolo- 
gies from Powhatan, to whom Smith gives up his In- 
dian captives 177 

CHAPTER IV. 

Radcliffe President — his weakness and excesses — is re- ^ 
strained by Smith— energy of Smith— he explores the 
Chesapeake in an open boat — thunderstorm and nar- 
row escape— ambuscade of the savages— Massaw^omeks 
— discovery of Potomac — Smith wounded severely by a 
stingray 187 



CONTENTS. yii 

CHAPTER V. 

PAOK 

Return to Jamestown— follies of the President— Smith 
reembarks on a new voyage— makes discoveries of 
other tribes and ruins— the Susquehannocks, a gigantic 
people— conflicts and treaties with the Indians— peril 
from tempests 201 

CHAPTER VI. 

Re-building Jamestown— arrival from England— idle 
projects of the adventurers— visit to Powhatan by the 
English— sports of Indian damsels— pride of Powhatan 
—ludicrous scene at his coronation 222 

CHAPTER VII. 

Newport's abortive adventure in the country of the 
Monacans— Smith sets the colonists to work— his pun- 
ishments for swearing— hostility of the Indians— dis- 
tress of the colony— his remedies— his letter to the 
treasurer and council of the plantation 284 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The exigencies of the colony— Smith goes among the 
Indians for provisions — camp in the snow — difficulties 
with the Indians— Powhatan hostile— Smith resolves to 
seize his person— vigilance of Powhatan— his cunning 
and ill feeling, treachery and excellent speech — at- 
tempts of the savages — Smith's courage and conduct — 
defeats their plans— Pocahontas comes to Smith by 
night to warn him against the messengers sent by her 
father— :the supper 247 

CHAPTER IX. 

Treachery among the whites — Smith at Pamaunkee, the 
seat ot Opechancanough— hostile designs of the latter 
— Smith environed by the savages — seizes Opechan- 
canough in person, and extricates himself and friends 
— second attempt of the Indian chief, and defeat — 
disaster at Jamestown 267 

CHAPTER X. 

Smith renews his attempts to take Powhatan and is 
again baffled — returns to Jamestown — confusion there 
^his laws— attempt upon his life and the colony by the 



Viii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

savages, with the help of certain traitorous Dutchmen 
— Smith assailed by the King of Paspaliegh, a giant — 
overthrows him in single combat, and carries him 
prisoner to Jamestown— His skill in surgery — Indian 
ingenuity 280 

CHAPTER XI. 

Improvements at Jamestown— Smith supreme— Pow- 
hatan's liberality — Smith's treatment of mutineers — 
his power among the savages — the Dutchmen — their 
fate — return of exploring parties 293 

CHAPTER XII. 

Smith's enemies — a new charter for the colony — new 
officers from Europe — their follies — Smith superseded 
— the distresses and disturbances of the settlement — 
Smith's scorn and indifference — his resumption of 
authority — his energy, decision and judgment — combat 
of the settlers at tlie Falls with tlie savages — Smith 
rescues the former — resettles them, and they abandon 
the settlement 303 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Smith blown up with gunpowder — nearly drowned — con- 
spiracy, and attempt upon his life — his sufferings — 
resigns the government to Percy, and returns to Eng- 
land — his services in the colony 314 



BOOK IV.— CHAPTER I. 

Smith in England — liis studies — writings— associates and 
eulogists— " The Sea Marke," a poem— the Virginia 
colony — Pocaliontas — her captivity — marriage with 
John Rolf e, and admission into the Church of Christ. . 323 

CHAPTER II. 
Smith's cravings for adventure — Plymouth Company — 
Discovery in New England — Smith's first voyage for 
furs and fish — his narrative and map of the countr}" — 
receives the honorary distinction of Admiral of New 
England — difficulties between the London and Plym- 
outh companies— Smitli's second voyiige to New Eng- 
land — misfortunes — encounters with ])irates — is taken 
prif^oner by the French — escapes in one of their boats 
during a storm 334 



CONTENTS. bf 

CHAPTER IIL 

PAoa 
Smith at Rochelle in France — assisted by Madame 
Chanoys — returns to England — his publications, fame, 
disappointments and noble firmness — vainly labors to 
proceed with a new armament to New England. 846 

CHAPTER IV. 

Virginia — attempts of the English to take from Pow- 
hatan a second daughter — Pocahontas — her character 
— is carried to England by Sir Thomas Dale — her inter- 
view with Smith — his letter to Queen Anne— Utto- 
makkin, the emissary of Powhatan— Death of Poca- 
hontas — her descendants 353 

CHAPTER V. 

Powhatan — his death — Opechancanough, his power and 
policy — massacre of the English— Smith's scheme for 
subduing the Indians — his opinions of the state of the 
colony — his failures and writings — neglect, and death 
in 16Pil — Opechancanough — his captivity — dignity — as- 
sassination bv an English soldier while in custody of 
Sir William Berkeley 866 



INTKODUCTORY IvTOTE. 



Or the early colonization period in American his- 
tory, dealing chiefly with the founding by the London 
Company of Southern Virginia and the Jamestown 
settlement, at the beginning of the 17th century, the 
principal actor is Captain John Smith, soldier, ex- 
plorer, and president of the colony. The value of his 
work in the settlement of Virginia is notably great ; 
and it is to his quaint though not always trustworthy 
narrative that we owe much of our knowledge of the 
country, and the tragic events connected with its 
early colonization in the time of James I. of Eng- 
land. Romantic interest is moreover given to the 
story by the manner in which the dusky maiden, Poca- 
hontas, daughter of chief Powhatan, figures as the 
rescuer of Smith's life and a warm friend of the 
whites, and later as the lover and wife of the English- 
man, John Rolfe. Of John Smith's career what is 
known of him is that he lived between the years 1579 
and 1631, saw military service in the ISTetherlands, 
and, if we can trust his own record, was for a time en- 
gaged in wars against the Turks, and won renown as 
a soldier. In 1606, when adventure and colonization 
in the New World was in the air, he was induced by 
Bartholomew Gosnold, the English navigator, to 
take part in an expedition to Virginia to settle 

xi 



Xii INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

in the region; and there did much useful explora- 
tory work on the James River and about Chesapeake 
Bay and its tributary waters ; was in captivity to the 
Indians, and had his life spared by the intercession 
of Pocahontas ; became president of the resident coun- 
cil; and returned to England in 1609, after many 
adventures and mishaps, related by himself in a series 
of volumes appertaining to the Virginia colony, with 
a description of the country, its native inhabitants, 
their tribal characteristics, and manner of living. 
Later on. Smith made a couple of trading voyages to 
the ISTew World, chiefly to the New England coasts, 
where he engaged in fishing and the fur-trade; and 
subsequently, after taking part in sea-fights w^ith the 
French against the Spaniards, did much to further 
American colonization by his writings. In the latter, 
he was practically the first of American annalists; 
and could we place more confidence in his narratives, 
which are those of an imaginative man as well as 
somewhat of a vain boaster, albeit clever, daring, and 
shrewd, his literary work would have higher value, 
and he himself would be deemed less of an " adven- 
turer and gasconading chronicler.'' In spite of his 
characteristic heedlessness and unveracity, Bancroft, 
the historian, however, speaks of him as " the Father 
of Virginia, the true leader who first planted the 
Saxon race within the borders of the United States. 

The story which the prolific Southern novelist and 
poet, William Gilmore Simms (1806-1870), has here 
to tell of Captain John Smith is replete with stirring 
incident and adventure, and is throughout entertain- 
ingly and graphically depicted. Mr. George W. Cable 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. xiii 

narrates the story of Simms^s own life, in the " Amer- 
ican Men of Letters "series, and descants with intelli- 
gent fervor on his varied romances of American colon- 
ial life, his history of South Carolina, and his many 
vividly written stories of the Revolutionary era. 
Though somewhat lacking in literary finish, his 
" Life of Captain John Smith " is told with anima- 
tion and spirit, and with no little illumination for 
the interested student of early American annals. In 
the biography, Simms manifests his very considerable 
power of character painting and his gifts as a graphic 
narrator ; while in his romances he approaches Cooper 
in fecundity, as well as in the variety and interest of 
his themes. 

G. Meecee Adam. 



THE LIFE OF 

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 



BOOK I.— CHAPTER I. 

In the long roll or catalogue which the world may 
exhibit of the great or remarkable men who have 
distinguished its several epochs and conditions, none 
have ever so completely ravished the regards of con- 
temporaries as those who have been equally marked 
by the great and spontaneous readiness of their 
thoughts, and the resolute activity and eagerness 
with which they advance to the performance of their 
actions. In such persons, under peculiar laws of 
temperament, the blood and the brain work together 
in the most exquisite unanimity. There is no reluc- 
tance of the subordinate to follow the commands of 
the superior ; no failure in the agent properly to con- 
ceive, and adequately to carry out, the designs and 
desires of the principal. The soul responds gener- 
ously to the dictates of the mind, and no tardy rati- 
ocination, slowly halting in the rear of the will, fi- 
nally supervenes to reprove the deed when it is too 
late for its repair, and compel a vain regret for the 
hasty and unconsidered action. But, on the con- 
trary, the impulses of the blood, and the counsels 
of the brain, as if twined together, harmoniously 
prompt and perform those admirable achievements, 



2 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

which ordinary men regard as the fruits of a sudden 
instinct, or a happy inspiration. Tried by calm re- 
flection, the process chosen, the labor done, seem to 
have met the necessity precisely, as if the most de- 
liberate wisdom had sat in judgment upon the event; 
and yet the performance will have been as prompt 
as the exigency which provoked it. With persons 
thus fortunately constituted, deliberation is rather 
an obstacle than a help to right performance. They 
seem to conceive and to think more justly while in 
action than in repose. It is the necessity which pro- 
vokes the thought. It is the sudden call upon their 
genius that shows them to be possessed of the endow- 
ment. Such are the men who commonly appear to 
shape and regulate the transition periods in society ; 
to time and to direct its enterprises ; to infuse its 
spirit w^ith eagerness and enthusiasm, and to meet, 
with the happiest resources and the most unfailing 
intrepidity, the frequent exigencies which hang about 
the footsteps of adventure. 

Of this class of persons, living in modern periods, 
and by reason of merits such as these commended 
to our attention, the name and fortunes of him who 
is the subject of these pages possess a more than 
common interest for the American. Capt. John 
Smith, the real founder of Yirginia, is one of the 
proverbial heroes of British settlement in this w^est- 
ern hemisphere. His career will happily illustrate 
the peculiar sort of character upon which we have 
thought proper briefly to expatiate. His story is 
one of those real romances which mock the incidents 
of ordinary fiction. This we are to gather chiefly 
from his own narratives, and partly from his con- 
temporaries, by whom his deeds are amply confirmed 
and put bej'ond dispute. Of his adventures, which 
lift into heroic dignity a name so little significant 
in itself as to be commonly a subject for the vulgar 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 3 

jest, it is enough to say, that they serve to denote 
the more noble and daring- events of a period, dis- 
tinguished by its spirit, its courage and its passion, 
for vigorous and stirring performance. It is as one 
of the master spirits of this period and of modern 
times, that the subject of our biography challenges 
the consideration of our people. 

John Smith was born at Willoughby, in the county 
of Lincolnshire, EnglancL some time in the year 1579. 
He was descended from ah ancient Lancashire fam- 
ily. His father came from the ancient stock of the 
Smiths of Crudley in that shire ; his mother from 
the Rickards, at" Great Heck, Yorkshire. He re- 
ceived his education, such as it was, at the free 
schools of Louth and Alford. It was, probably, his 
own fault that his schooling was not better. He 
was not of a temper to be restrained by schools and 
tutors. The eager activity of his mind and blood 
betrayed itself at a very early period. He makes 
the first exhibition of this activity while at school, 
and at the early age of thirteen. " Set," even then, 
according to his own showing, " upon brave adven- 
tures," he sold his books and satchel, and was pre- 
paring secretly to steal away to sea, when he was 
arrested by the death of his father. His mother, of 
whom he does not speak, seems to have died previ- 
ously. His wandering purpose, arrested by this 
event, was checked for the moment only. His father 
left him some little property, which, Vith himself, 
was committed to the charge of certain guardians, 
who proved quite unfaithful to their trust. They 
were not disposed to waste his substance upon him, 
and with shameful cupidity winked at that tendency 
to vagabondism which his early impatience of re- 
straint seemed to promise. Fortune thus, in lessen- 
ing his domestic ties and sympathies, seemed to 
encourage his wandering inclinations. His guard- 



4 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ians allowed him much liberty, if they gave him 
little money. Of the former he soon had enough to 
enable him to get beyond the sea ; but his means 
were too slender to justify his flight. A little more 
liberality, at this early period, might have relieved 
them of all further annoyance at his hands. Com- 
pelled to provide for him at home, they placed him, 
as an apprentice, with a merchant of Lynn, named 
Sendall — " the greatest merchant," according to 
Smith, ''of all those parts." But Smith longed for 
the sea, and Sendall had other uses for him on shore. 
His apprentice had no taste for these uses, and 
though his guardians might bind with all the fetters 
of the law, he was not the lad to reverence such a 
bondage. The spirit, that already dreamed of 
doings with the sword, was not to be subdued by in- 
dentured parchment. He soon leaped his counter, 
and never saw his master again until the lapse of 
eight years rendered it equally unlikely that the 
latter would recognize or reclaim his fugitive. He 
thus made himself a freeman with but ten shillings 
in his pocket. This ten shillings was the liberal 
allowance of his guardians, " out of his own money," 
given him, as he tells us, " to get rid of him." His 
flight from the merchant does not appear to have 
been withheld from their knowledge. In all proba- 
bility he fled to them from Sendall, in order to pro- 
cure the means of getting to sea or passing into 
foreign countries. Ihese were his favorite ideas. 
They constituted his passions, and, as the nearest 
step to their gratification, he found means to enter 
the service of the sons of the famous Lord Wil- 
loughby,* then under tutelage, and about to make 
the tour of the continent. We are not told in what 
capacity he attended these young gentlemen — most 

**'The Right Honorable Peregrine, that generous Lord 
Willoughby, and famous soldier,"— 5»iif/i's Nam^ative, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 5 

probably as a page, scarcely as a companion. He 
was not long in this situation. Within a month or 
six weeks after entering France, " his service being 
needless," as he himself tells us, he ^Yas dismissed 
with a liberal allowance of money to take him back 
to his friends. But such friends as our apprentice 
had left behind him in London possessed very few 
attractions. Their bonds were not so very grateful 
as to move him voluntarily to resume them. He 
had as yet seen but little of the world. He had but 
partially gratified the strong curiosity which had 
carried him abroad. He remembered the ten shil- 
lings bounty of his guardians, and the object for 
which it had been given, and he concluded to linger 
a while longer in France. He made his way to 
Paris — a boy of fifteen, without friends or compan- 
ions — how, he does not tell us, but under what dif- 
ficulties, doubts and dangers, at that early period in 
his own life, and that unsettled period in the history 
of the country, through which he went ! This very 
progress illustrates, in some degree, the courage and 
danng of his mind. At Pans, he made the ac- 
quaintance of a Scottish gentleman, named Hume, in 
whose eyes he soon found favor. Hume replenished 
his purse, and becoming interested in his grace, 
spirit and intelligence, furnished him with letters of 
introduction, couched in terms of liberal commenda- 
tion, to his friends in Scotland. The idea which 
possessed the mind of this gentleman in behalf of 
his youthful protege, sufl3ciently proves the great 
hopes which he had formed of his endowments, 
even at that early period. The object of his advice 
and letters was to make of him a courtier, to pro- 
cure for him access to the person, and, if possiole, 
employment in the service of King James, the well- 
known Scottish Solomon. What was the influence 
of Hume and his friends at court, it would not now 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

be easy to discover. Looking to the sequel in the 
career of Smith, it would prove his patron to have 
been a man of discernment and sagacity. The de- 
sign certainly proves that Hume beheld '^ in the boy 
some foreshowings of the future man. We are pre- 
pared to see already that he was no ordinary boy — 
we see that he at least possessed some of those out- 
ward accomplishments which compel the regards of 
older heads. These accomplishments, whatever they 
may have been, were all certainly of his own acqui- 
sition. They did not come from the free schools of 
Louth and Alford ; they scarcely had their founda- 
tion behind the counter of the Lynn merchant, and 
it does not appear that he was much, if anything, 
indebted to his parents. They were the fruits of a 
peculiar original endowment. All that was pre- 
cious in Smith's education came from his experience. 
But Smith was still too much of the wayward 
boy to follow implicitly the directions of his friend. 
Though at first honestly resolved to do so, his 
temper was Cjuite too capricious just at that moment 
to continue in his purposes. There were too many 
objects in France for his diversion. His mind was 
too eager for the novel, too impatient of the staid, 
too wild, too erratic, to remain long at this period 
in any one Avay of thinking. And let us not too 
seriously censure these exhibitions of caprice. It is 
curious \o observe how frequently, not to say inevi- 
tably, they attend the career of the young adven- 
turer who carves out his own fame and fortunes. 
It is in this way that nature prompts to the neces- 
sary acquisitions of the performer. The restlessness 
of mood which we thus witness, leads to constant 
discovery. The wandering footstep is associated 
with the keen eye and the scrutinizing judgment ; 
and the mind finds its strength and volume in this 
seeming caprice and purposeless misdirection, as 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, ? 

the muscle of tbe child grows from the feverish 
restlessness of its feeble and uncertain limbs. 
While we studiously train the young to tbe steady 
exercise of their faculties, we must allow, at the 
same time, for tbe indulgence of those impulses 
which cause vigilance, far-sightedness, promptness 
of decision, and great activity. 

Scarcely had Smith got out of tbe sight of his 
Scottish benefactor when he forgot tbe ambitious 
purpose which was entertained in his behalf. He for- 
got Scotland and its pacific monarch in a new im- 
pulse to adventure. It is probable that the attrac- 
tions of courtier life made a less lively impression 
on his fancy than upon that of Hume. At all 
events, arrived at Eouen, he finds his money all 
spent, and listens to other counselors. Tbe sound 
of the trumpet stirs his soul Avith more delightful 
and powerful sensations. He hears the shouts of 
the liorsemen, and the preparations for war. In- 
stead of Scotland he takes the route to Havre de 
Grace, where, in his own language, " he first began 
to learn the life of a soldier." This must have been 
somewhere between tbe years 1608 and 1610. What 
were the lessons he learned, what battles be saw, in 
what wars or on what side be was engaged, are left 
wholly to conjecture. The civil wars of the Catho- 
lics and Protestants, terminating in the assassina- 
tion of Henry lY., prevailed about this period. 
That Smith shared in these conflicts, and on the 
Protestant side of the question, may reasonably 
be inferred from all tbe circumstances. These 
wars were at an end. Peace in France made that 
country no longer an attraction to him who had just 
taken his first lesson in the art of war, and Smith at 
once passed into the Low Countries — then, and long 
afterwards, destined to become the great battle- 
ground for half of Europe. Here he served four 



8 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

years under a Captain Joseph Duxbury. He was 

probably one of a band of English auxiliaries serv- 
ing against Spain in the great conflict which finally 
secured to the Netherlands their independence. Of 
his own share in this war, and of the position which 
he held, Smith tells us nothing. Though he wrote 
much, Smith was not an elegant writer. Though 
sometimes tedious, he is so more on account of his 
style and manner of narrative than because of his 
material. He is never copious, and satisfies him- 
self with barely glancing at events, the details of 
which, we perceive, would enrich the story and de- 
light the reader. It is only when he arrives at a 
trust, when he becomes a leader, that he speaks dis- 
tinctly of himself. Of Smith in the ranks, as one of 
many, doing nothing more and nothing better than 
the rest, he is modestly silent. He was still little 
more than a boy while under Duxbury, could 
scarcely have had any trust assigned him, and evi- 
dently considered himself as barely serving out an 
apprenticeship. He was more faithful in this than 
in the service of the Lynn merchant. That he was 
diligent in his studies, that he took to his art con 
amore^ and mastered it quickly and with a rare abil- 
ity, Ave have every reason to suppose from his sub- 
sequent career. Indeed, but a short time after, we 
find him boasting of his acquisitions even when si- 
lent on the subject of his performances. He tells 
us with equal pride and modesty that he had mas- 
tered all the martial schools of France and the 
Netherlands that ** his tender years could attain 
unto." These acquisitions could only have been at- 
tained by practise; this practise could only have 
been found in the actual exigencies of war. These 
inferences are unavoidable. Still, it is to be wished 
that his narative had not been so meager — that we 
could have been suffered to see the eager spirit 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 9 

of the boy, and how he bore himself in these pre- 

Earatory campaigns. We should have been the 
etter prepared to understand the origin of those 
audacious instances of valor, and those admirable 
proofs of skill and sagacity, which subsequently be- 
came so completely associated with his name. 

His apprenticeship to the art of war, as pursued 
in the Low Countries, was prolonged for three or 
four years. At the close of this period, in some in- 
terval of the service, or possibly in one of his usual 
caprices, Smith bethought himself of the Scottish 
letters furnished him by Hume. He suddenly re- 
sumed the purpose which he had abandoned at Kouen, 
and once more determined to proceed to Scotland. 
He embarks accordingly at Ancusan for Leith. In 
this voyage he was destined to enjoy a foretaste of 
that harsh fortune by which his genuis was to be 
schooled, in order to the requisite training for its 
true performance. The vessel in which he sailed 
was wrecked. He narrowly escaped drowning only 
to encounter another equally great danger from a 
severe fit of sickness, which seized him on the Holy 
Isle of Northumberland, near Berwick. Here he 
lay in as much danger " as sickness could endure." 
As soon as he had sufficiently recruited, he entered 
Scotland, and delivered the several letters which 
Hume had given him for his friends. The proverbial 
hospitality of the Scotch people was not denied to 
Smith. He had no occasion for complaint on this 
score. The persons to whom his letters were ad- 
dressed — " those honest Scots at Kipweth an Brox- 
mouth " — received him with the greatest kindness, 
but beyond this his mission produced no fruits. It 
does not appear that he was ever presented to the 
king. He himself tells us that there " was neither 
money nor means to make him a courtier." His na- 
tive independence of character may have been an 



10 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

obstacle, may have rendered impossible, tobisspiritj 
those preliminary servilities which ambition, taking 
this course, is compelled usually to undergo before 
it can hope for the attainment of its object. The 
good sense or the proud stomach of our hero, may 
have saved him from this sort of degradation ; and 
such it was like to have been, in fawning upon such 
a monarch as James the First. By a comparison of 
dates, it is highly probable that this sovereign was 
now becoming eagerly anxious for the robes of 
Elizabeth. lier demise followed a few 3'ears after, 
and looking to this event we may reasonably con- 
jecture that bonnie King Jamie had no particuhir 
reason to increase his establishment in a country 
from which at any moment he might have been sum- 
moned to depart. What would have been the effect 
upon Smith's fortunes, and those of England, had 
the former found his way into favor — in anticipation 
of Buckingham — had his nobler spirit dictated the 
enterprises, and stimulated the courage of the king- 
dom? Imaginative histories, equally instructive 
and amusing, may sometimes be wrought by tlie 
happy intellect, pursuing some such gratefrd con- 
jecture, upon a single fact assumed, to its probable 
conclusion, in changing thedestiny of kingdoms and 
in averting the fall of kings. This is one of these 
subjects. — Smith taken into the family of James, 
while yet a boy at the Court of Scotland, might, 
with the vigor of youth, have pursued and carried 
out the brilliant schemes of Raleigh, then no longer 
young ; and by realizing some of the nobler objects 
of that great man, w^jile yet he lived, might have 
yielded a human consolation to his dying moments. 
The roving passion was strong in both their bosoms, 
and their career in arms was not unlike. The}^ both 
received their early lessons of war in France and 
the Netherlands, fighting for the same behalf, that 



LtFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 1% 

of the Protestants. We shall see that one at least 
of the adventurous projects of Kaleiffh was destined 
to owe its successful prosecution to tne sagacity, the 
courage and the energy of Smith. 

Whatever may have been the cause, our hero was 
very soon diverted from any thought of pursuing 
the toils and the occupations of the courtier ; and, 
possibly with some feelings of chagrin and disjip- 
|3ointment with the world, he returned to Willough- 
by, in Lincolnshire, his place of birth. Here it ap- 
pears that he lived a great deal in society ; but the 
society even of his early abode, the first sensations 
of pleasure over, was not calculated to satisfy a 
mind of his eccentric energies. He describes him- 
self as "glutted with too much company, wherein 
he took small delight." In moments of exhaustion, 
from previous excess of toil or enterprise, the spirits 
of persons of this order flag, and require a degree of 
repose strictly proportioned! to the energy they have 
displayed in their preceding exertions. "^To a man 
like Smith in particular — one who had lived so 
rapidly, and had already seen so much of the world — 
there could have been no condition so well calculated 
to pall upon his tastes as the tame and monotonous 
movement of daily life in the humdrum quiet of a 
country town. His blood was naturally fretted by 
inactivity, and the very presence of a crowd, of a 
society that was ])erforming nothing, must soon have 
disgusted a temper which, for so long a period, had 
enjoyed for its daily food the humors and the excite- 
ments of a camp, the variety and the animation of a 
great city, the dangers of the sea, and the thousand 
stimulating aspects and avocations of a strange land. 
His remedy against the apathy into which he was 
in danger of tailing from his intercourse with a so- 
ciety which to him could afford no nourishment, 
"Was of a kind to denote the impatience and the in- 



12 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

dependence of his mind. He fled altogether from 
communion with men, adopting a like resort with 
many of the bold and eccentric persons of past times, 
and betook himself to the solitude and shelter of the 
forests. " In Avoodie pasture," thus he writes, " in- 
vironned with many hundred acres of other woods," 
he adopted the guise and the manners of a hermit. 
" Here, by a faire brooke, he built himself a pavil- 
lion of boughs, where onely in his clothes he lay.'' 
We see in this proceeding the romantic tendencies 
of his character — that eager, enthusiastic nature, 
which always yearns for the Avild, the strange and 
the extravagant — disdaining the beaten track, and 
eagerly striving after a condition and performances 
from which the ordinary temper shrinks ever in dis- 
may. In this very errantry we may see the germ 
of that adventurous mood which led him in maturer 
years across the Atlantic to the fathomless depths 
of forest in Virginia. 

Here, in his " pavilion of boughs," he gave further 

E roofs of the decided character of his genius in the 
ooks which he read, and the exercises, strange 
enough in his hermit life, which he adopted. Ilis 
" studie was Machiavellie's Arte of AVarre " and 
Marcus Aurelius ; his exercise, a good horse with a 
lance and ring. His moods, errant though they 
were, did not, it seems, interfere with that self-train- 
ing, which Vv'as certainly the best that he could have 
chosen for service in his future career. The horse, 
the lance and the ring brought to him the skill, and 
show him to have been imbued with the spirit of 
chivalry. Few of the courtiers of King James are 
likely to have been as decidedly inclined to such 
exercises. As a hunter he practised some other of 
the minor arts of war. His food was chiefly veni- 
son of his own taking. He states this fact slyly 
^hus : " his food was thought to be more of venison^ 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 13 

than anything else," as if he Avere troubled with 
certain misgivings on the subject of the game-laws. 
His other Avants were supplied by a servant, through 
whose means he still mamtained some slight inter- 
course with the world which he had forsworn. 

His library, thus limited to two volumes, and those 
not of a character to beget the impulse to such an 
eccentric mode of life as that which he adopted, we 
are to look for this impulse to the natural constitu- 
tion of his mind, urged by an ambition which is 3"et 
vague in its developments, and taught by a judg- 
ment yet in the green of youth, and from the early 
exercise of his will, equally uncertain in its aim and 
resolved upon its prosecution. Smith had some- 
thing of the poet in him, and wrote smooth verses 
upon occasions, but does not seem to have been 
much a reader of the poets. His romantic excesses 
were probably all native, the natural overflow of a 
mind, vigorous, easily excited, and so full of spontane- 
ous utterance, as necessarily to rush at times beyond 
the limits of a sober and restraining reason. And 
yet it is only by a course of reasoning based upon 
the ordinary habita of the merely social man, that 
we shall see anything to astonish us or to provoke 
censure in the hermit seclusion and studies of our 
hero. The eccentricity of this mode of life soon had 
the effect of making "him notorious ; and here we 
may remark that, in all probability^ this w^as not 
the most disagreeable result which he anticipated 
from his present strange career. The mind of Smith, 
naturally ambitious of distinction, was swelling like 
that of the Spaniard. He was one of those who 
crave to live ever in the eyes of men — who enter- 
tain a passion, born of impetuous blood, which seeks 
present distinction and reward for performances, 
and which works constantly with an appetite for 
present homage. To such persons the applause of 



14 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 

contemporaries is fame, or such a foretaste of it, as 
to make it certain that they shall attain the object 
which they seek. He was not displeased when the 
rustic world around him began to stare at the strange 
stories which they heard about their neighbor 
hermit. He found his pleasure, and possibh' his 
profit also, in provoking the wonder of the "peas- 
antry. By degrees the fame of our anchorite ex- 
tended to the wealthier classes, and at length an 
Italian gentleman, a sort of master of the horse to 
the Earl of Lincoln, was persuaded to seek out our 
hermit in his '' pavilion of boughs." He did so. 
He penetrated to the forest den of Smith, and made 
himself known to him. The visit did not offend our 
hero, who, in all probability, began to tire of his 
seclusion. The conversation of the Italian pleased 
him, and his horsemanship no less. Gradually, at 
length, as an intimacy grew up between them, 
Smith was beguiled from his solitude, which he 
abandoned with his new associate. But the society 
which he thus acquired did not suffice for the exact- 
ing spirit of our adventurer any more than did that 
of Willoughby. " Long these pleasures could not 
content him," and he chafed in his inactivity, as the 
lion, born for the desert, chafes at the close limits 
of his cage. Smith was not encaged. He was not 
to be kept. He w^as of that hardy nature which 
yearns for the conflict, and loses the pleasant con- 
sciousness of its strength, unless in the absolute en- 
joyment of the struggle. He probably appeared 
even to disadvantage in moments of repose and 
quiet. Be this as it may, in such quiet as that for 
w^hich his solitude had been surrendered he was not 
willing to remain. His Italian friend failed to keep 
him at Tattersall's, and we find him, very soon 
after, breaking away from this intimacy and from 
England, once more'^to seek his fortunes in the Low 
Countries. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 1|J 



CHAPTER II. 

" Thus," says our hero, in his own narrative, 
"when France and the Netherlands had taught 
him to ride a horse, and to use his arraes, with such 
rudiments of warre as his tender yeeres in those 
martial schooles could attaine unto, he was desirous 
to see more of the world, and to try his fortune 
against the Turkes, both lamenting a'nd repenting 
to have scene so many Christians slaughter one an- 
other." The passage" would seem to imply that he 
had a second time seen service in the Low Countries. 
Yet of this period and service we have no partic- 
ulars. It was his period of apprenticeship only, 
in which fortune afforded him no opportunities of 
distinction, or his " tender years" made it impos- 
sible that he should avail himself of them. He was 
at this time but nineteen years old, hopeful, san- 
guine and warmly confiding, as is usually the case 
with persons of this temperament. He was to in- 
cur its usual penalties, and to pay dearly for that 
caution which experience alone can teach, and 
which is so important for him who seeks to be a 
leader among men. We next find him in company 
with four French gallants, famous rogues it would 
seem, who flatter his vanit}^ and take advantage of 
his youth. Nobody is more easily betrayed than 
the youth having large enthusiasm of character, and 
a warm faith in what is allotted for his performance. 
One of these cunning Frenchmen passes himself off 
upon our hero as a nobleman. The rest are his at- 
tendants. It is not difficult to deceive a character 



10 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

such as that of Smith. Vigilant by nature against 
the enemy, the same nature places no sentinel 
against the approach of friendship. In this guise, 
our cunning Frenchmen play their parts to admira- 
tion. Our hero yields them his full heart. They 
persuade him to go with them into France, where 
they should not only obtain the necessary means 
for going against the Turks, but letters from cer- 
tain distinguished persons to the general of the 
Hungarian army. The pretenses were all plausible, 
the end to be attained of considerable importance. 
The parties embarked in a small vessel, the captain 
of which, if not a party to the designs of the French- 
men, at least was disposed to wink at their pro- 
ceedings. Smith had money and fine clothes. In 
these respects they were less liberally provided. 
He was a youth, very confiding, and might be 
plucked with safety. It does not seem to have re- 
quired much skill in the operation. It was on a 
dark and gloomy night in winter, when they reached 
the port of St. Yalery, in Picardy. Under cover 
of the night the conspirators, with all their own bag- 
gage and that of Smith, were taken ashore by the ca{> 
tain without the knowledge of the other passengers. 
It was not until the rogues were fully beyond reach 
that the treacherous shipmaster returned to his ves- 
sel. When the robbery was detected it Avas with- 
out present remedy. It is very probable that the 
captain was a sharer of the spoils. He no doubt 
commanded one of those coasting luggers of mixed 
character, to be found at that period in all the mari- 
time countries of Europe, which played according 
to circumstances the character of the smuggler or of 
the honest trader. The extreme youth of Smith, 
and the manner in which he had been stripped of 
everything, awakened the compassion of the ])as- 
sengers, while the evident treachery of the captain. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. I7 

enkindled all their rage. Some of them supplied 
the present Avants of the former. He had been left 
wholly without clothes, those only Avhich he wore 
excepted ; and with but a single penny in his 
pocket, was compelled to part with his cloak for 
the payment of his passage. The indignation 
against the master of the vessel had nearly led to 
disastrous consequences. The passengers were kept 
with difficulty from putting him to death in their 
fury, and nothing but their ignorance of the ship's 
management prevented them from running away 
with her. Fortunately these intemperate counsels 
did not prevail, and the vessel was relieved of her 
angry inmates without suffering, except in the 
fright of the captain, which, we may be allowed to 
hope, afforded him a proper lesson'of prudence, if 
not of honesty. 

In these events our luckless adventurer was not 
wholly without consolation. He found friends 
among his new companions. One of these, in par- 
ticular, Avho was himself an outlawed man, and 
might therefore be naturally expected to sym.pa- 
thize with one so young and so friendless, helped 
him to money, and brought him from place to place 
to a knowledge of his own friends, by whom he was 
everywhere hospitably entertained. " His story in- 
terests the people, who are won by his ^^outh, the 
frankness of his temper, and the graces of his per- 
son ; those externals of character and figure which 
prompted Hume to think of him as a courtier for 
King James. He meets with kindness and protec- 
tion finally from lords and ladies, whose names he 
gives, but Avhom it is scarcely possible for us to 
identify, disguised as they are by the antique Enolish 
spelling of our author. With these persons he might, 
as he writes, "have recreated himself so longeas he 
woulde ; " but, as he adds, " such pleasant pleasures 
2 



18 UFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

suited little with his poore estate and his restlesse 
spirit, that could never iinnde content to receive 
such noble favours as he could neither deserve nor 
requite." Accordingly, breaking away from his 
new friends as he had done from the old, he re- 
sumed his wanderings, seemingly without an object 
beyond the gratification of that restlessness of mood 
and independence of resolve, which were the prime 
characteristics of his genius forever after. In these 
wanderings he is made to endure much misery and 
privation. His means are soon exhausted, his stout 
heart begins to fail him, probably because of the want 
of food ^ and, one day, finding himself in a forest, 
he flings himself, nearly dead with grief and cold, 
*' beside a faire fountaine under a tree," as if re- 
solved to yield to despair and to go no farther. Here 
he is found by a neighboi'in^ farmer, who takes pity 
on his condition, relieves his wants, and gives him 
means to resume his journey. And thus he fared, 
traveling from province to province, and from port 
to port, following the bout of a wayward inclina- 
tion, still dissatisfi.ed and vexed with those vague 
yearnings which naturally troubled the mind of him 
who has not yet learned to address himself to his 
legitimate objects. While thus wandering, the for- 
tune which refuses to find him better oi)portunities, 
helps to gratify his revenge. Alone, and vaga- 
bondizing in Brittanv, he accidentally meets in a 
wood with one of the treacherous Frenchmen who 
had robbed him of his clothes and money. This 
fellow was no,med Cursell. The parties recognized 
each other at a glance, and under an equal impulse 
their weapons were bared in the same instant. 
With an avowed object or enemy before him Smith 
was decisive alwa\^s. They had no words. "The 
piercing injuries " of our hero, in his own language, 
*" had small patience." His superior skill, together 



LIFE OF CAPTAm JOHN SMITH. 19 

with (as we may surely assume) the goodness of his 
cause, gave bira'ratber an easy victory. He tells of it 
without any boasting. The fight took place in the 
presence of several persons, the inhabitants of an 
old tower standing in the vicinity. In the hearing 
of these he extorted an ample confession of his guilt 
from the robber he had overthrown and wounded. 
But he obtaineil no further satisfaction. It appears 
from Cursell's confession that the rogues had quar- 
reled among themselves for a division of the spoils, 
that they had fought, and he had been driven away 
from any participation of it. With this story, and 
the honorable victory which he had won, Smith was 
compelled to be satisfied ; and leaving the wounded 
robber to his own conscience and tue care of the 
peasantry before whom he had confessed, he di- 
rected his steps to the seat of the Earl of Plover, 
whom he had formerly known during the wars in 
France. By this nobleman and others, his kinsmen. 
Smith was received with distinction. They took 
pains to show him the country, " Saint Malo's 
Mount, Saint Michael, and divers other places in 
Brittany," and when he was ready to depart they 
supplied him with means and sent him on his way 
rejoicing. Pursuing such a route as would enable 
him to see the country, and gratify the caprices of 
his curiosity, he at length made his way to Mar- 
seilles, where he took passage in a ship for Italy. 

He was destined on this voyage to experience 
another of those trials, by which it would seem that 
fortune studies to task the strength, while she con- 
fers upon genius the degree of hardihood which is 
essential for great achievements. The vessel in 
which Smith sailed was crowded with pilgrims of 
the Catholic faith, making their way to Kome. She 
had scarcely put to sea when she was driven by 
stress of weather into the harbor of Toulon. This 



20 LIT^E OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

mishap, and possibly some indiscretion of his own, 
drew all eyes particularly upon himself. They dis- 
covered that he was the only Protestant on board. 
He was the Jonah, accordingly, to whom their mis- 
fortune was ascribed, and they exercised their own ill- 
humor, and his patience, by denouncing his religion 
and his nation, in no measured language, to his 
teeth. How, with a temper so quick and passionate, 
he forbore his defiance at this treatment, or that he 
did forbear, is not told us. The matter was not 
mended when they resumed the voyage. The bad 
weather continued, and the vessel was once more 
compelled to seek the refuge of a port. They cast 
anchor under the little isle of St. Mary, which lies 
off Nice, in Savoy. Here the pious Catholics once 
more gave vent to their indignation at the presence 
of so pernicious a heretic among them. " They 
AYildly railed on his dreade sovraigne. Queen Eliza- 
beth ; " " hourly cursing him not only for a Ilugonoit, 
but his nation they swore were all pyrats." In 
short, concluding, *' that they never should have 
faire weather so long as hee was aboard them, their 
disputations grew to that passion " that at length 
they cast him into the sea. We are told by one of 
the authorities, that he used his cudgel soundly 
among them before they proceeded to this ex- 
tremity ; but the assertion is grossl}^ improbable, 
allowing anything for his discretion, and his own 
narrative affords no sanction for the story. That he 
may have defended himself when they offered to 
lay' hands upon him — that he did defend himself— 
is probable enough. But that he offered violence in 
anticipation of this proceeding is highly question- 
able. Smith, even at this early day, was not without 
discretion. He was bold enough, but scarcely so 
rash or so thoughtless as, without help, to rush into 
conflict with a whole ship-load of angry enemies. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 21 

That he met their vituperations with responses fash- 
ioned in a like style — that he gave them as good 
as they sent in the way of spiritual doctrine, and 
berated the pope as savagely as they cursed his 
" dreade sovraigne, Elizabeth," may be admitted ; 
and in this way he may have precipitated those ex- 
tremities, which at a later day his prudence would 
have taught him to avoid. But, whether imprudent 
or merely unfortunate, the storm still prevailing, he 
was dismissed by these pious pilgrims to the tender 
mercies of the deep. Well for him was it that the 
vessel was so nigh the shore. It was among the ac- 
complishments of his desultory mode of life that he 
was an able swimmer. His heart did not fail him, 
nor his limbs. Buffeting the seas manfully, he suc- 
ceeded in making his way, with little hazard or diffi- 
culty, to the dry land on St. Mary's isle. The place 
was Uninhabited, except by a few kine or goats ; 
and here, for his better fortune, he might have be- 
come another Alexander Selkirk, with a temper 
quite as well prepared as his to make the most of his 
barren empire. But the very next day he was taken 
oflF by a French vessel, which, like his own, had put 
in to find shelter from the storm. This vessel was 
commanded by one Captain La Koche, of St. Malo, 
who proved to be a friend of the Earl of Ployer. 
When he ascertained the friendship of this nobleman 
for Smith, he treated him with the utmost kind- 
ness and consideration. 

To the roving mind of our hero it did not much 
matter to what quarter of the globe his face was 
turned, and, well entertained, he made no sort of 
objection to accompanying his new acquaintance on 
his voyage. They sailed accordingly to Alexandria, 
in Egypt. Smith does not tell us in what capacity 
he went Avith Captain La Roche, nor whether ho 
participated, except as a looker on, in any of the 



22 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

proceedings of the latter. But he was of an age 
and a character which must have made him highly 
useful in any situation, and we may readily conceive 
that he was not simply*' an idle mouth" on the 
passage. Dicharging her freight at Alexandria, 
they went to Scanderoon, " rather," says Smith, " to 
see what ships were in the roade than anything 
else." The truth seems to be that our vessel of 
Brittany was something more than a merchantman. 
She could serve a term at other purposes, and her 
cruise simply " to see what ships were in the roade " 
was not a quest of idle curiosity. " Keeping their 
course by Cypres and the coast of Asia, say ling by 
Rhodes, the Arcliipellagans^ Candia, and the coast 
of Grecia^ and the isle of Zeffaloiiia^'^ they lay-to for 
a few days, evidently on the watch for prey, between 
the isle of Corfu and the Cape of Otranto at the 
entrance of the Adriatic Sea. 

Here they did not watch in vain. Their cruise 
was rewarded by an encounter with a Venetian 
argosy, richly laden with gold, silks, velvets, tissue, 
and other rare products of that genius and invention, 
in which the Venetians were then very much in 
advance of the nge. This encounter enlightens us 
somewhat in regard to the object of our French- 
man's course, although it is not certain that his quest 
was a Venetian vessel. It does not appear that war 
at that time existed between France and the Repub- 
lic, but this was not necessary to make insecure the 
rich argosies of the one nation, meeting with a 
cruiser of the other, where no cognizance of their 
mutual doings might be had. The suspicious de- 
meanor of our vessel of Brittany startled the feai's 
of the vigilant Venetian. He very imprudently an- 
swered the civil salutationof Captain La Roche with 
a shot, affording him in all probability the \qv\^ pre- 
text which he desired. This shot, killing one man 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 23 

on board the Frenchman, brought on a general 
action. The conflict which followed was exceed- 
ingly fierce. Twice in the space of an hour and a 
half did the French board the Venetian, and twice 
were they gallantly repelled. A third attempt re- 
sulted in the two vessels taking fire. The mutual 
danger led to their separation. The fire was soon 
quenched, but not the fury of the assailants. Their 
rage at being baffled led to more desperate efforts, 
and these were successful. The Yenetian, in a sink- 
ing condition, yielded to the captors. They went to 
work to stop the leaks only that they might be ena- 
bled to rifle her of her valuable merchandise. This 
required twenty-four hours at the least, and Smith 
tells us that the " silkes, velvets, cloth of gold and 
tissue, pyastres, chicqueens and sultanies which is 
gold," of which the}^ despoiled her in that space of 
time, " was wonderful." Having crammed their 
own vessel, they cast off the prize, leaving in her as 
much good merchandise as w^ould have '•^fraughted 
such another Britaine." The Yenetian was four or 
five hundred tons in burden, the Frenchman but 
two hundred. The latter lost fifteen, the former 
twenty men in the engagement — a sufficient proof 
of its severity. That Smith took conspicuous part 
in the fight, Avith the hearty good will and the stub- 
born courage of the Englishman, may be inferred 
from his share of the spoils, which amounted to 
"five hundred chicqueens (sequins) and a little box," 
God-sent Khn (that is, we suppose, the immediate 
spoil of his own right hand) with as many more. 
The box was probably one of jewels. 

Smith, so far as mere pecuniary fortune was con- 
cerned, had every reason to be satisfied with this 
adventure. But he was not satisfied to pursue the 
career thus handsomely opening before his eyes- 
He prepares to leave La Roche, and, at his own re- 



2i LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

quest, with his sequins and his jewelry, is set on 
shore in Piedmont. He parts kindly with La Koche, 
whom he styles " this noble Britaine," and who 
seems to have treated him with an appreciating and 
just consideration. His next journe}^ is for Leghorn ; 
and, making the tour of Italy, he meets the friends 
with whom his first pilgrimage had been made, 
Lord Willoughby and his brother. He finds them 
under painful circumstances upon which he does not 
dilate : " Cruelly wounded in a desperate fray, yet 
to their exceeding great honour." Yet what had 
been their experience, compared with his, from the 
moment of their first separation, when all of them 
were bo3^s, to that of their present meeting? What 
a life of adventure had the nobleman of nature led 
in comparison with the easy fortunes which were 
theirs — the noblemen of society ? What lessons had 
he learned of courage, and wisdom, and expedient, 
to serve him in a perilous career, and to secure him 
future eminence ? 

Smith visits Rome, where it was " his chance to 
see Pope Clement the Eighth, with many cardinals, 
creepe up the holy stayres." From Rome he went 
to [Naples, and other great places, " to satisfie his 
eye with faire cities, and the kingdome's nobilitie ; " 
and after a very ample tour, the description of 
which, as contained in his own narrative, is exceed- 
ingly bald and valueless, but in which we have rea- 
son to suppose that he was pretty well relieved of 
all his sequins, we find him suddenly awakened to 
a recollection of the original purpose for which he 
sailed from France — that of joining the armies of 
Rodolph of Germany, then waging war against the 
Turks, under the third Mahomet. From Venice he 
proceeded to Ragusa, on the Adriatic, where he lin- 
gered '' some time to see that barren, broken coast 
of Albania and Dalmatia ; " thence to Capo D'lstriai 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 25 

" travelling the maine of poor Slavonia," till he came 
to Gratz in Styria, the residence of Ferdinand, Arch- 
duke of Austria, and afterwards Emperor of Ger- 
many. Here he met with an Englishman and an 
Irish Jesuit, by whom, having made them ac- 
quainted with his desires, he was presented to Lord 
Ebersbaught, Baron Kisell, the Earl of Meldritch, 
and other persons of distinction in the imperial 
army. He was soon successful in finding his way to 
the confidence of these noblemen ; and attaching 
himself to the staff of the latter, who was a colonel 
of cavalry, proceeded with his regiment soon after 
to Vienna. 



a« LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER III 

The time at which Smith made his appearance as 
a volunteer in the armies of Rodolph was particu- 
larly favorable to the desires of one having so large 
an appetite for military achievements. A cruel war 
had long been raging between the Christian power 
of Germany and the Grand Seignior. The close of 
the career of Amurath the Third had been hastened 
and embittered by disaster. He entailed upon his 
successor, the third Mahomet, the necessity, or more 

Eroperly the seeming policy, for continuing the same 
loody warfare. The year 1601, at the close of 
which Smith made his appearance in this new field, 
had been distinguished by many terrible conflicts, 
the advantage remaining in some measure with the 
Turks. They had ravaged Hungary, and taken 
some of its best fortresses ; and Ibrahim Bashaw, 
with an immense army, had laid siege to Canissia, 
a place of strength on the borders of Styria, nearly 
surrounded by deep marshes. The Christian forces 
undertaking the relief of this place were defeated 
with great slaughter, and Canissia was finally sur- 
rendered. Flushed with this success, the Turks 
pushed forward to other conquests, and, with a force 
of twenty thousand men, laid siege to Olympach. 
The defense of this town was assigned to Lord 
Ebersbaught, one of the officers of the imperial 
army, to whom our hero had been introduced at 
Gratz. In this new acquaintance he had found a 
willing listener to the narrative of his military 



LITE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. ff 

career, and to certain suggestions, which might have 
been original with Smith, for the improvement of 
the art of war. Something of his views may have 
been gathered from his reading, more perhaps from 
his experience, and a good deal from the activity of 
his mind, which could digest with equal independ- 
ence the material derived from these twofold sources. 
Smith's brain seems to have been full to overflow- 
ing of strategic matter. He was at once the thinker 
and the worker : that rare combination of character, 
as we have said before, by which men of action are 
distinguished. He was always — to use his own 
phrase — " trying such conclusions as he projected 
to undertake." Some of these conclusions, with 
which he succeeded in impressing Lord Ebersbaught, 
were, as we shall see hereafter, of considerable serv- 
ice in obtaining advantages over the enemy. That 
he so readily obtained the ear of this nobleman and 
others, must be ascribed to an address of peculiar 
felicity. The English friends who introduced him 
could scarcely do more for him than say that he had 
seen service, and had experienced many vicissitudes. 
As yet he could boast none of the distinction of hav- 
ing been a leader of men. He had served a valuable 
apprenticeship; it was now for the first time that 
he was to reap its fruits. 

Ebersbaught, in addition to the evident qualifica- 
tions of the youth, most probably saw that he was 
ingenuous, that he did not belong to the ordinary 
class of military adventurers. It was a real passion 
for glory, and not a thirst after spoil, that brought 
him at that doubtful juncture into Hungary. Cer- 
tainly, as we have shown, no moment could have 
been more unpromising for the imperial forces than 
that in which our hero joined himself to the regiment 
of the Earl of Meldritch— the Imperialists, defeated 
in successive actions, their strong places overthrown, 



28 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

their country ravaged, the Turk growing daily more 
confident and strong, and Olympach, greatly shat- 
tered by the besiegers, cut oft' from all communica- 
tion with its friends, and nearly hopeless of succor 
from without. The forces appointed for its relief, 
under the Baron Kisell, a general of artillery, were 
inadequate to the task assigned them, and could give 
assistance in no other way than by occasionally an- 
noying the besiegers, whenever opportunity offered 
for preventing them from obtaining supplies, or by 
cutting off a detachment. It was quite too feeble to 
attempt any more formidable enterprise against the 
main body of the besiegers. The regiment of Mel- 
dritch formed a part of this command of Kisell, and, 
as cavalr\^, was no doubt actively engaged in the 
business of this campaign, that being oi a nature 
particularly to commend the use of horse. Of Smith's 
share in this business he tells us little, till we find 
him serving as a volunteer immediately about the 
person of the baron. That he had proved useful, 
and had succeeded in drawing attention to himself, 
may be inferred from this circumstance. He was 
about to prove himself more useful still. In the 
straitened condition of Olympach, Kisell was exceed- 
ingly anxious to attempt something in concert with 
the besieged ; but how to effect this simultaneous 
operation was beyond his ingenuity. Communica- 
tion with the town had been long since cut off. 
The Turks in vastly superior force lay between them, 
and closely watched as was the place, with an army 
of twenty thousand active and barbarous enemies, 
who were never known to spare, it was not possible 
to find a soldier sufficiently daring and reckless to 
hazard himself in the attempt to pass the cordon 
which their vigilance maintained. In this difficulty 
Smith came to the relief of his commander. He 
reminded him that among the numerous schemes of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 29 

a military character, which he had communicated 
to Lord JEbersbaught, now in defense of Olympach, 
there was one of a telegraphic alphabet by which, 
with signal torches corresponding regularly with 
the letters of the alphabet, a correspondence might 
be carried on between persons not too far asunder 
for properly detecting and discriminating the lights. 
This scheme of a telegraph, as old as the days of the 
Greeks and Romans, may have been picked up by 
Smith in his military readings, but is by no means 
too intricate for his own unassisted invention. The 
fortunate circumstance was that he should have 
communicated it to Lord Ebersbaught among his 
" projections " and '' conclusions," without entertain- 
ing any distinct conception of the present emergency, 
by which its usefulness was to be determined. The 
hope now entertained was that Lord Ebersbaught 
would sufficiently remember the suggestion to com- 
prehend the signals. At all events. Smith succeeded 
in persuading Kisell to try the experiment. Seven 
miles distant from the town of Olympach stood a 
mountain of considerable elevation, which seemed 
to our hero suited for his purposes. To this moun- 
tain he conve3^ed himself with the necessary agents 
and implements by night. Here he first displayed 
three signal fires, equidistant from each other. 
These drew upon him the attention of the garrison, 
and were at once comprehended by the governor, 
whose wits, sharpened no doubt by the emergenc}^ 
found no difficulty in recalling the scheme as related 
to him by the English adventurer. What Avas the 
joy of Smith when he was replied to by three torches 
from the walls of the town, showing him that his 
signals were understood ! The rest was easy. ^ The 
lights were then displayed from the mountain in 
proper order so as to form the successive words, 
thus — 



30 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

" On — Thursday — at — night — I — will — charge — 
on — the — east — at — the — alarm — sally — you." 

The answer was immediate — " I will ! '' — and this 
matter thus happily adjusted, Smith returned to 
camp, equally prepared to take part in the conflict, 
and to attempt further schemes for making it suc- 
cessful. His active genius conceived a plan for 
remedying the inferior numbers of the troops under 
Kisell ; and by this means to keep in such a state 
of doubt and uncertainty a large portion of the be- 
sieging armjr, as to prevent them taking much or 
any part in the battle. The Turks were divided 
into two bodies, of ten thousand men each. These 
bodies lav apart, separated by a river. The entire 
force of Kisell amounted only to ten thousand. To 
fall suddenly upon one of the Turkish bodies, and 
to restrain the other, by reason of its own fears, 
from any attempt to second or assist it, was the 
desirable object. The river by which they were 
separated favored the scheme of Smith. This was 
to prepare some '' two or three thousand pieces of 
match, fastened to divers small lines of an hundred 
fathom in length, being armed with powder," which 
"might all be fired and stretched at an instant, 
before the alarm, upon the plaine of Hysnaburg, 
supported by two staves at each line's end, and 
which would thus seem so many musketeers." This 
scheme, which had for its object to render vigilant 
the one half of the Turkish army, which it was not 
intended to assail, in watching the imaginary mus- 
keteers, is easily comprehended. 

The result was eminently successful. "While ten 
thousand of the Turks, wholly unendangered, were 
thus placed hors de cornhat^ waiting anxiously for 
the momentary charge from the foe that had no 
existence except in their fancies, the actual warriors 
of Kisell, with Smith among them, were penetrating 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 31 

with havoc and slaughter among the ten thousand 
that lay encamped on the opposite side of the river. 
The ruse Avas admirably seconded on the part of 
the garrison. The Turks, bewildered and distracted, 
ran to and fro, without concert or courage, and 
offering no effectual opposition, were slaughtered in 
great numbers. More than a third of the ten thou- 
sand thus attacked, were slain or drowned in the 
attempt to swim the river to their comrades, who, 
on the other side, maintained such a resolute and 
watchful front against the imaginary army, as most 
effectually to discourage its assault. 

The result was a triumphant one for the assailants. 
Two thousand picked soldiers were thrown into the 
garrison, and the Turks, hopeless now of its conquest, 
retired in disgrace from before its walls. Our hero 
was not without his recompense for his share in 
an achievement, the success of which was due so 
largely to his ingenuity and skill. He received a 
command of two hundred and fifty horse in the 
regiment of his friend, the Earl of Meldritch, to say 
nothing of other honors and rewards. 



32 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTEE TV. 

A BRIEF interregnum, which seemed like peace, 
followed the relief of Olynipach, to be succeeded by 
newer and greater preparations for the war. But 
the soul and intellect of Smith were not at rest. 
His was not the spirit to which repose is desirable ; 
but, if not absolutely in action, contemplating action 
with the e^^e of his imagination, he was perpetually 
schooling himself for its vicissitudes. Never was 
mind more observant than his of the progress and 
condition of the world about him. Bis narrative, 
as a volume of travels, would be absolutely worth- 
less to the reader who seeks for anything more than 
to ascertain the simple fact that the traveler him- 
self had been an observer. Of this there can be no 
question. The mind of Smith was not given to 
description, and disdained details. It was of a sort 
f^ nd of generalization, and taking in at a glance all 
the vital conditions of its subject. He describes 
little, but you see that he comprehends. He gives 
but a few words to the manners and customs of a 
people, but you see in these words that he conceives 
and appreciates them. The military eye of our hero 
is evidently keenly exercised in all the countries 
that he visits. He comments shrewdly on their 
forts and garrisons, on their weapons of war, their 
training, or the ease or difficulty ^vith which their 
strong places may be overthrown. These notices, 
sprinkled over allhis pages, show the source of that 
frequent mental provocation by which the resources 
of his own genius were brought into exercise and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 33 

development. They show him watchful and shrewd, 
not easily persuaded by novelty, not easily deceived 
by show — of a calm, clear mind, a firm spirit, and 
one which, if it has not survived its youthful en- 
thusiasm, is at least no longer to be deluded b}^ it. 

It was in busy study and contemplation that 
Smith employed the interregnum following the 
relief of Olympach, and the resumption of the actual 
events of war. The compaign opened early in the 
year. The levies of the Turks were prosecuted 
with unwearied diligence and activity, while, on the 
other hand, three large bodies of troops were raised 
by the emperor. One of these was commanded by 
the Archduke Mathias; one by Ferdinand, Arch- 
duke of Styria ; and a third by Gonzago, governor 
of Hungary. The lieutenant of the Archduke 
Mathias was the Duke Mercury (Mercoeur), who led 
a force of thirty thousand men, ten thousand of 
whom were French. Smith served in this division, 
still under the immediate command of the Earl of 
Meldritch. To Mathias was given the defense of 
Lower liun.^ary, and the Duke Mercury began the 
campaign vigorously by laying siege to Alba Re- 
galis, a strongly fortified town in possession of the 
Turks, and considered in that day almost impreg- 
nable. Here Smith's talents as an engineer were put 
in requisition ; and here we again find him coun- 
seling novel inventions in war, by which to obtain 
unusual advantages. He suggested to the Earl of 
Meldritch the employment of a sort of shell, which, 
filled with combustible matter, was discharged from 
a sling. These were called " Fiery Dragons " by 
their inventor, who describes them as " round-bellied 
earthen pots," filled with " hard gunpowder and 
musket bullets," and covered with a coating of 
brimstone, pitch, and turpentine. His plan was 
favorably entertained. He was permitted to trj 



34 I^IFE OF CAFIAIN JOHN SMITH. 

the experiment, which he did successfully. Having 
first learned from spies and deserters, or prisoners 
escaped from the town, in what quarters it was 
usual for great numbers of people to assemble on 
occasions of alarm, his bombs, or hand-grenades, to 
the number of forty or fifty, were flung at midnight 
into the city, directed to those places where the 
greatest crowds were likely to be brought together. 
" It was a fearful sight," says Smith, " to see the 
short flaming course of their flight in the air; but, 
presently after their fall, the lamentable noise of 
the miserable slaughtered Turkes was most wonder- 
ful to heare." These combustibles had the farther 
effect of firing the suburbs, " which so troubled the 
Turkes to quench, that had there beene any means 
to have assaulted them, they could hardly have re- 
sisted the fire and their enemies." The Turks fought 
bravely, nevertheless, making frequent sallies, and 
doing very slaughterous deeds whenever they came 
forth. But valor did not avail them. The place was 
finally taken by a bold and Avell executed maneuver, 
which gave to the besiegers possession of the city. 
The bashaw by whom it was defended was faithful to 
his trust. Desperately fighting, and disputing every 
inch of ground with the assailants, he drew together 
a select body of five hundred men before his own 
palace, resolved in perishing to sell his life dearly. 
The conflict was a terrible one. The Turks were 
almost cut to pieces, and the bashaw^ saved in his own 
spite by the Earl of Meldritch, who, Avith his own 
hands, protected him from the fur}^ of his troops. 
This city had been in possession of the Moslem for 
sixty years. The}^ valued it accordingly. An army 
of sixty thousand men, under Hassan Bashaw, had 
been sent to its relief at the beginning of the siege, 
and was rapidly ])ressing forward when the news of 
its conquest was received. This did not arrest the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. J5 

march of the Turkish array. The loss of Alba Re- 
galis was a severe stroke, seriously felt at the be- 
ginning of the campaign, and a subject of deep 
mortification with the Turks. Hassan Bashaw was 
disposed to risk much for its recovery. Pressing 
forward with all his energy, it was his hope to sur- 
prise the army of the Imperialists before they could 
well repair the breaches in the walls. He was 
mistaken in this expectation. The Duke Mercury 
had promptly provided for the defense of the place ; 
and, apprised of the undisciplined and inferior char- 
acter of the Turkish levies, he adopted the bold de- 
termination of marching out with twenty thousand 
men to meet them. The two armies encountered 
on the plains of Girke. The battle was joined upon 
the march, regiment after regiment mingling in the 
melee as they severally came upon the ground. The 
conflict was obstinate and bloody. If the Moslems 
lacked discipline there was no deficiency of valor, and 
valor makes so large an element of successful war- 
fare, that it will not do to overlook or disregard it 
when estimating the resources of a foe. Besides, the 
Turks were thrice the number of the Christians. 
Discipline at length prevailed, after a long and mur- 
derous struggle. The skill and practised valor of 
the forces of Duke Mercury more than supplied the 
deficiency of number, and with equal courage and 
bravery effectually baffled that of the foe. The battle 
closed only with the night, nor was the affair then 
concluded, since, as it has been said of the British 
in recent times, the Turk did not know when he 
was beaten. The affair was destined to be resumed 
with the beginning of another day. 

Smith approved his valor in' the conflict, was 
wounded, and had his horse shot under him. But 
he was not the warrior to be content with this, and 
to remain dismounted when there were so many 



56 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

noble steeds running masterless around him. He 
was soon supplied with the means of renewing his 
labors in a field, in which his ardent and fearless 
spirit found so much to delight him. The wound 
of Smith in this action he calls a sore one. l^othing 
is said of the part which he took in the final assault 
when Alba Regalis was carried ; yet if we recollect 
that the last desperate struggle with the governor 
took place with the troops under the immediate 
command of the Earl of Meldritch, Ave have every 
reason to conclude that our hero had his share in 
the worst dangers of that bloody conflict. 

Night, which separated the combatants on the 
plains of Girke, left the affair still doubtful. But 
the Turks thought otherwise. Hassan Bashaw was 
a brave man, and had the most perfect Moslem 
faith in the sword and doctrines of Mohammed. 
Flattering himself that the Christians were wholly 
in his clutches, he committed the gross military 
error of detaching twenty thousand of his men, and 
sending them off to begin the leaguer of that town 
which he had been marching to relieve. He pro- 
posed to finish the affair with Duke Mercury the 
next day with the forces which remained. I^ever 
was general more mistaken. He failed in both his 
objects. The precautions which the Duke had taken 
before leaving Alba Regalis, in providing amply for 
its safety, without regard to his movements or fate, 
enabled the i^arrison to beat off and baffle the assail- 
ants. The situation of the Duke himself was much 
more hazardous. With the return of daylight the 
generals of both armies opened their eyes with an 
increased respect for each other, and each proceeded 
to intrench himself where he lay, under sight of his 
enemy. Thus they lay for two or three days, the 
precautions of the Imperialists being rather greater 
than those of the Turks, as was proper to their infe* 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SmTH. 37 

rior numbers. By the latter thej were frequently 
taunted with their weakness, and defied to come 
from behind their trenches. These provocations 
finally goaded them to the encounter. The Chris- 
tians were led out by the Khinegrave, by Culnitz, 
and Meldritch, in three bodies. The struggle was a 
short one. The Turks were driven to the cover of 
their intrenchments, with a loss of six thousand 
men ; the Imperialists forbearing to press their ad- 
vantage, because of the sudden appearance of a 
large body of troops, coming from an unexpected 
quarter. The success thus obtained, while it les- 
sened the Turkish appetite for a renewal of the 
game, did not increase the courage of the Christians. 
"We are not told of their losses in the two conflicts 
which had already taken place ; nor of the character 
of that body of men, whose sudden appearance in 
the midst of the last battle prevented Duke Mercury 
from pressing his advantage to a final victory. In 
all probability there were good reasons in his own 
weakness for this forbearance. Thus intrenched, 
the two armies lay watching each other for some 
days more, until at length, growing impatient, or 
hopeless of any good result from longer delay, 
Hassan Bashaw' broke up his camp and retired from 
his trenches ; the Imperialists hanging upon his 
march, and assailing his rear frequently and with 
success. The Turks fled to Buda, and the Duke 
divided his army into three parts. One of these 
divisions, consisting of six thousand men, was given 
to the Earl of Meldritch, who was sent to assist 
George Busca against the Transylvanians. With 
this division went our adventurer, and to its fortunes 
we must confine our attention. Our notice of the 
history of the country, as a matter of course, will be 
confined to such glimpses only as are necessary to a 
proper comprehension of the part taken by Smith, 



8S LITE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and the relation to public events in which each 
occurrence finds him. Transylvania at this period 
was assailed by very different enemies. Sigismund 
Bath or, the native prince of the country, was con- 
tending with the Emperor of Germany on one 
hand, and with the Turks on the other, who were 
the deadly enemies of both. While the latter were 
the invaders of his land, the former was ambitious 
of its sovereignty. Meldritch had been sent against 
Sigismund, but being a native of Transylvania, he 
preferred serving the native prince to the invader. 
He was perhaps the more readily persuaded to this, 
as he found Sigismund already in possession of the 
best footholds of the country. He did not find it 
difficult to divert the arms of his followers into the 
direction which he himself proposed to take ; par- 
ticularly, indeed, as he could urge upon them the 
better booty to be won from the Turks than that 
which could possibly be gleaned from the poor 
natives, his countrymen. The Emperor had not 
been a very good paymaster, and this was another 
argument easily persuading to a change of service. 
Besides, why fight against Christians, when the 
Turkish enemies were before them, at once the foes 
of their country and their faith ? A war, too, car- 
ried on against these, was a war in favor of both 
of the Christian princes, though they might be con- 
tending in deadly hate against each other. We 
cannot reproach the Earl of Meldritch and his fol- 
lowers with their change of service. Smith, cer- 
tainly, had neither moral nor social obligations to 
adhere to the banner of the Germans. Nay, to 
have done so, in carrying war into Transylvania, 
would have been on his part a gross offense against 
society and morals. His own previous convictions 
would have denounced him, as he had long since 
"repented and lamented to have scene so many 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 89 

Christians slaughter one another ; " and he had 
sought the army of the Imperialists, with the ex- 
press desire to " trie his fortune against the Turkes." 
He was still to enjoy the pleasure. Sigismund 
was very well pleased to obtain the services of a 
captain so brave and well experienced as Meldritch, 
and readily consented that he should endeavor to 
drive the Turks out of his country. It so happened 
that they held possession of those very portions of 
Transylvania in which the earl's family estates were 
situated. His motives were therefore quite as per- 
sonal as patriotic. He began his career with his 
wonted vigor. 



40 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER Y. 

In the campaign which followed, Smith was em- 
ployed in a manner which must have afforded him an 
excellent training for his future career among our 
North American Indians. The country, in which 
its operations were to take place, was one equally 
wild and savage in its natural and social aspects. 
The greatest trials of strength were to be found in 
regions which to ordinary courage would have 
seemed inaccessible. In these regions had the 
Turks planted their stronghold. They occupied the 
rocky mountains of Zarham, and ravaged the 
tributary plains and valleys. Over these wild and 
stony passes, in regions possessed by herds of ban- 
dits and renegades of all descriptions, Turks and 
Tartars — a people not so much Turks as outlaws — 
not so much men as savages — the troops of Meldritch 
must make their way to get at their enemies, and 
gain possession of his estates. They had to contend 
with a people practised in guerrilla or partisan war- 
fare—a warfare more than all others calculated to 
draw out the resources of military genius, to stimu- 
late ingenuity and activity, and prompt courage to 
feats of the greatest audacity. Meldritch knew the 
country, and was by no means ignorant of its dif- 
ficulties. He soon brought his troops to an ac- 
quaintance with the predatory warriors by whom it 
was possessed. These were sought and pressed, and 
with daily and unremitting industry. Graduall}^, 
they yielded before his arms, and left him in pos- 
Bession of the plains. They had their cities in the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 41 

mountains, and to these they retired from before the 
presence of the foe. To one of these, as utterly im- 
pregnable, they ascended when they could no longer 
find safety below. This was the city of Regall, a 
place of great natural strength, to which the mili- 
tary art of the day had added suitable fortifications. 
Regall was full of men, and so placed among the 
mountains, at one side only accessible, that nothing 
but the most extraordinary perseverance and cour- 
age would ever think of subduing it. But these 
were the very qualities which the Earl of Meldritch 
brought against it. He had been twenty years a 
soldier, was full of resources, and had under him no 
doubt many adventurers who, like Smith, could con- 
tribute to his success at the perilous moment by 
original expedients in arms. He had much at stake 
in the enterprise, and he approached it cautiously. 
His examination of Regall, of its approaches, strength 
and general characteristics, was thorough and sat- 
isfactory. He began the siege with the opening of 
spring. " The earthe no sooner put on her greene 
habit," says Smith, " than the earl overspread her 
with his armed troops." Meldritch proceeded as he 
had begun, with great energy., He strove in the 
face of a thousand difficulties. His ordnance was 
to be carried up through narrow passes of the 
mountains, in which he was liable to capital mis- 
fortune at any moment, unless watched b}^ vigilance 
and the most ready courage. A race of active 
mountaineers, familiar with the country, and prac- 
tised in the sort of warfare which it requires, might 
long succeed in baffling an invader of ten times their 
numbers. The banditU in possession of the moun- 
tain were not prepared to forego the advantages of 
their position, and every step on the part of the as- 
sailants was distinguished by conflicts which were 
equally obstinate and bloody. But perseverance, 



4,2 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

which is moral courage of a distinguished order, co- 
operating with tliat of ordinary valor, and seconded 
by experience and skill, succeeded in arraying the 
force of the Christians on the table of the mountain 
and in front of Kegall. The defenders of the city, 
apprised in season of the attempt against that place, 
had lined its walls with soldiers, and stored it abun- 
dantly, as well with provisions as with the munitions 
and implements of war. Confiding in the strength of 
the place, their own numbers and courage, and the 
ample supplies which they possessed for maintaining 
the siege, they laughed to scorn the attempts of 
the assailant. The seemingly feeble force brought 
against them — for the whole army of Meldritch did 
not exceed eight thousand men — seemed to justif}^ 
the contempt which they expressed. But they were 
soon taught another language. Even with this 
small army he succeeded in all the skirmishes in 
which they met, and had fully beleaguered them 
within the walls of Regall before he was joined by 
the forces of Prince Moyses, nine thousand in num- 
ber. To him, the chief command was surrendered. 
The preparations of the besiegers we^^e now de- 
liberately made. These were to secure them in the 
position which they had won. It occupied near a 
month before they were able to intrench themselv^es 
fully, and to plant their batteries. The slowness of 
these proceedings increased the courage of the Turks. 
They were amused rather than alarmed by that de- 
liberation, which was in truth the strongest proof 
of their danger. With a blind confidence in their 
numbers and the strength of their w^'\lls, they de- 
rided the besiegers with frequent messages of scorn 
and defiance. One of these messages was of the 
very character best adapted to provoke the more 
chivalrous persons in the Christian army, as it min- 
gled the lofty tone and temper of chivalry with the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 43 

insolence of inflated self-esteem. It roused an in- 
dividual spirit in the besiegers. It reproached them 
with their inactivity — said that they grew fat for 
lack of exercise ; and — expressing a fear lest they 
should suddenly depart from the city without af 
fording any pastime to the ladies thereof, — proposeo 
a defiance from the Lord Turbishaw to any captaia 
having the command of a company. The head ^A 
the vanquished, with all that he possessed, was tc be 
at the mercy of the conqueror. The challenge ♦vas 
after the fashion of knightly times, and theto had 
not entirely gone out of the memories of men The 
very motive to the offer — " to delight the ladii^s, who 
did long to see some courtlike pastime," partook 
largely of the best spirit of the Middle Ages. There 
were not wanting numerous brave captains in the 
Christian army whose hearts bounded to the accept- 
ance of the challenge with the eagerness of the an- 
cient war-steed, stirred suddenly by the onset sounds 
of the trumpet ; and but a single mode was left of 
deciding upon the champion — thai of casting lots 
for the noble ])rivilege. We need not say that Smith 
was among the claimants, and that special fortune 
befriended him. The ballot upon which his name 
was written was the first to present itself ; as if the 
watchful fate, forever heedful of her favorite, had 
matched for him the golden opportunity for fame. 

The preparations for the combat were as great as 
the anxieties for the issue were lively. A truce was 
made between the opposing armies, in order to the 
completion of arrangements for this event ; and as 
both parties possessed a very equal knowledge of the 
sort of state which should distinguish such proceed- 
ings, the afi'air absolutely recalls very vividly to the 
mind the great jousts and solemn tournaments which 
characterized the famous deeds of knighthood, as 
they were practised a hundred years before. On the 



44 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

day appointed for the combat the Christians were 
drawn out in battle array, making the most lavish 
display of banners, trophies, and heraldic insignia, 
while the ramparts of the town were covered with 
fair ladies, and men glittering in armor. The Turk- 
ish dames in these regions seem not to have shrunk 
from a display of their persons to the eyes of inlidels, 
as they were compelled to do in the m.ore central 
cities of their religion. Living on the borders of a 
Christian land, some of their social habits might 
naturally enough be modified by familiarity with 
the customs of their neighbors. 

The Turkish challenger, as in duty bound, first 
made his appearance on the field. A " noise of how- 
boys " announced his coming and his presence. 
His entree was calculated to rivet the attention, and 
compel admiration. He was well mounted, and 
clad in a suit of splendid armor. " On his shoulders 
were fixed a paire of great wings, compacted of 
eagle's feathers, within a ridge of silver, richly gar- 
nished with gold and precious stones." Three Jani- 
zaries attended him ; one going before and bearing 
his lance, the two others walking beside hnn and 
conducting his horse to the station which was as- 
signed him. Such was the proud entrance and im- 
posing aspect of the Turkish champion. That of 
Smith Avas far less showy. It does not appear that 
he wore any but his ordinary armor, or that he had 
any other to wear. We have reason to suppose, 
however, that he was not regardless of his personal 
appearance ; particularly as he was to fight in the 
presence of the ladies. That they were pagan dames 
did not lessen his respect for the sex ; and, if the 
truth were written, he was more than usually solic- 
itous of his toilet on that day. That he donned his 
best surcoat, that he selected his most showy scarf 
and plumage, we may conjecture with sufficient 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 45 

safety. But he was no carpet knight. He did not 
keep the Turkish champion waiting. He rode into 
the field with a flourish of trumpets, attended by a 
page bearing his lance, — passed his foe with a cour- 
teous salute, and gracefully wheeled into the posi- 
tion which was designated for him. There was no 
delay. At the sound of the trumpet the combatants 
rushed into the deadly embrace of the strife, and 
the encounter was ended with the single shock, and 
almost as soon as it had begun. So admirably true 
was the aim, so firm the nerves of the Christian 
champion, and so well trained his steed, that the 
lance of Smith penetrated the beaver of the Turk, 
and passing through his eye into the brain, he fell 
dead to the ground at the first thrust, without so 
much as grazing the person of his conqueror. Smith 
leapt to the ground, unbraced the helmet of his 
enemy, and finding him lifeless, smote off his head, 
which he bore away in triumph to the Christian 
host. The body of Turbishaw was delivered to his 
friends. The spoils of war necessarily became the 
property of the victor. 



46 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTEE YI. 

We may imagine the exultation in the camp of 

the Christians, and the good auguries of future tri- 
umph which were conveyed by so gallant a begin- 
ning. The hero was met by the army with a shout 
of general welcome. In just the same degree was 
the mortification of the good people of Regall. 
Sorely did they lament the fall of their champion, 
and sadly, w^e may suppose, did the " faire dames " 
of the city si^h as they thought upon the dehghtful 
pastime which was made for them by the Christian, 
Smith. But the chief mourner in Kegall was one 
Grualgo, the bosom friend of Turbishaw, and a fierce 
and powerful warrior. In the first paroxysm of his 
grief and fury he despatched a special message to 
the conqueror, proposing his own head as the stake 
for the recovery of his friend's. To make the bait 
the more tempting to our champion, his horse and 
armor were also proposed as pledges upon the issue. 
It need scarcely be said that, flushed with one vic- 
tory, and having full confidence in his own prowess, 
Smith was ready to seek the chances for another. 
The challenge was promptly accepted. IS'othing, 
indeed, could have been more agreeable to our hero. 
It is true, he had given the head of Turbishaw to 
Prince Moyses, who had " kindly accepted it," but 
it cannot be doubted that the prince would gladly 
risk his prize with the expectation of getting that of 
Grualgo also for his collection. There were no diffi- 
culties in the way of the arrangement, the field was 



UFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 47 

prepared as before, and the ensuing day was ap- 
pointed for the combat. 

The walls of Kegall were again covered with spec- 
tators. The fair and the brave once more came 
forth with mingled feelings of delight, expectation, 
and anxietv— pride, and hope, and apprehension, 
duly mingling in their bosoms, according to the 
temper of the individual. Grualgo entered as his 
friend had done, with a noise of hautboys ; Smith, 
as before, with a flourish of trumpets. The sound 
of the trumpet gave the signal for the combat. At 
the first passage the lances of the combatants flew 
into pieces; but, while the Turk w^as nearly un- 
horsed in the encounter, Smith kept his seat as if he 
had grown to the saddle. The splintered spears 
were thrown aside, and seizing their pistols, shots 
w^ere instantly exchanged between the parties. At 
the first shot Smith was slightly wounded, and 
Grualgo escaped unhurt. In the second, the latter 
was less fortunate. His left arm was shattered, and 
his horse became unmanageable. In this plight he 
was thrown to the ground, and lay at the mercy of 
the conqueror. The age was not favorable to much 
forbearance in such cases, nor had the terms of cour- 
tesy between the contending armies been of such a 
sort as to render the want of pity a reproach to 
either from the other. Besides, the Turk had staked 
his head with a full knowledge of all the dangers, 
and having the fate of Turbishaw before him. Smith 
had voluntarily subjected himself to the same risk, 
and this he scarcely would have done, but with a 
view to his obtaining all the profits of his risk. The 
conditions of the field seem to have been inevitable, 
and leaping to the ground, the conqueror smote off 
the head of Grualgo as effectually as he had done 
that of Turbishaw. Head, horse, and armor re- 
mained his trophies. The body, he is careful to tell 



48 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

US, with all its rich apparel, was sent back to the 
city. Our champion took nothing more than he 
had a perfect right to take. 

These were severe strokes to the defenders of lie- 
gall. We have every reason to suppose that Turbi- 
shaw and Grualgo were their very bravest champions. 
'No more challenges were sent from that city. The 
desire among the Turkish warriors of delighting 
the ladies of the place with such courtlike pastimes 
seemed fairly at an end, and the chivalry of both 
parties was now exercised in daily conflicts of a more 
general nature. The Turks made frequent sallies, 
but did not long wait for the skirmishes they pro- 
voked. " They would not endure," says Smith, *' to 
any purpose." They had, by this time, tested suffi- 
ficiently the superior pro;vess of their assailants, and 
their sorties had no other object than to divert or re- 
tard the operations of the leaguer, of which they may 
reasonably have begun to be more apprehensive than 
at the beginning of the campaign. These opera- 
tions were of a character too slow and tedious for 
the temper of Smith. The approaches were left to 
unskilful engineers, and the progress to the consum- 
mation of the event was too unpromising to satisfy 
the impatient and ambitious nature of our champion. 
Burning for some new occasion for displaying his 
skill and spirit, he determined to take the initiative 
in a new attempt to delight and amuse the ladies. 
" With many incontradictible persuading reasons " 
" to delude time," Smith obtained leave from his 
commander to send a message of defiance into the 
town. It was couched, hoAvever, in language of 
particular courtesy, as being addressed to the ladies 
of Kegall themselves. He begged to assure them 
that he was not so much enamored of the heads of 
their servants in his possession, but that he was ready 
to restore them upon proper terms, and he invited 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 49 

them to send forth some other champion who would 
risk his own to recover them. Smith concluded by 
declaring himself willing that his head should accom- 
pany the others if their champion was prepared to 
take it. 

Thus addressed, it became a point of honor with 
the gallants of Regall that the ladies should not 
lack a champion. The challenge of the Christian 
was accepted with sufficient promptness by a brave 
fellow, whose name in our English orthography does 
not create the impression of any very formidable 
personage. How it would look and sound in Turk- 
ish costume is beyond our conjecture. Bonny Mul- 
gro — thus written by Smith — was the name of the 
third champion sent forth from Regall. He came 
only to add a third to the trophies of our hero. 
The arrangements were made for the ensuing day. 

The combatants entered the field as in the pre- 
vious instances, and under like auspices — the day 
fine, and the camp of the Christians, and the entire 
population of Eegall, turning out to behold the issue. 
But there was one difference in the arrangements 
which had like to have brought about an important 
difference in the result. The choice of weapons be- 
ing with the challenged party, taking counsel from 
the fate of his predecessors, he declined having any- 
tliing to do with the lance, of which weapon Smith 
had shown himself a perfect master. (How much 
of this mastery did he owe to his practise when 
playing hermit in the woods of Lincoln ?) Bonny 
Mulgro chose the pistol, the battle-ax, and falchion ; 
in the use of which weapons, particularly in that of 
the battle-ax, he was more than commonly pro- 
ficient. The combat honored his discretion, and 
had nearly resulted in his victory. At the sound of 
the trumpet the combatants rapidly darted upon 
each other, discharging their pistols as they drew 



50 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

nigh. No damage having been done by these weap- 
ons, they were thrown aside, and a close and severe 
combat followed with the battle-ax. For some 
time the strife was doubtful. Sound strokes were 
given on both sides, with such heart}^ good will, and 
such imperfect defense, as to leave neither of them 
scarce sense enough — so Smith tells us — to keep 
their saddles. At length, however, the Turk suc- 
ceeded in giving his antagonist a blow so severe as 
to deprive him of his battle-ax. At the sight of 
this advantage gained by their champion, the people 
of Regal 1 set up such a shout as shook their ram- 
parts. This, while it encouraged Bonny Mulgro to 
do his utmost, may be supposed to have stung his 
opponent into a full recovery of his senses — never 
more necessary to him than just at that moment. 
He did recover them. It was very fortunate for 
him that he was so efficient a horseman. It was 
only by the dexterous management of his steed 
that he succeeded for some time in avoiding the 
blows hailed upon him by his enemy. Smitli is not 
unwilling to share some of the merit with his horse, 
whose " readinesse " he eulogizes, while insisting 
upon his own " judgment and dexterity in such a bus- 
inesse." It was beyond the expectation of all the 
spectators — almost beyond the hope of his Christian 
friends — that our hero, finally, "by God's assist- 
ance," not only escaped the ha^tchet of the Turk, 
but drawing his falchion, succeeded in running him 
through the body. This event dismounted him ; 
and though he alighted on his feet, he was not suf- 
fered to keep them long. He soon shared the fate 
of his companions ; and Smith, still in possession of 
bis own head, added a third to his former bloody 
trophies. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 61 



CHAPTER YII. 

These several victories, the fruit of so much skill, 
judgment and valor on the part of our champion, 
had the most inspiriting effect upon the soldiery, and 
were duly honored by the commander of the Chris- 
tians. A most imposing pageant took place in his 
honor. With an escort of six thousand men, the 
three Turks' heads borne before him on so many 
spears, preceding the three horses with their panoply, 
the spoils of the three combats. Smith was con- 
ducted to the pavilion and into the presence of the 
general. Prince Moyses welcomed him with em- 
braces, complimented '^him as his deeds deserved, be- 
stowed upon him a noble charger richly furnished, 
a splendid scimetar and belt worth three hundred 
ducats. Count Meldritch added to these gifts 
another, which our hero in all probability valued 
quite as highly as any of the rest. He made him a 
major in his "regiment. Nor were these the only 
rewards which followed his unwonted and successful 
chivalry. At a later period Sigismund Bathor, 
Prince 'of Transylvania, coming to review the army, 
and being made aware of his peculiar achievements, 
distinguished him with the highest personal atten- 
tions, gave him his picture set in gold, a pension of 
three hundred ducats per annum, and crowned all 
with a patent of nobility. This patent entitled him 
to a coat of arms, bearing three Turks' heads in a 
shield, with the motto, " Vincere est Vivere* 

*Forthispateiit and the certificate of the English garter 
king-at-arms, Sir William Segar, by whom it was admitted 



52 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

But Smith was destined to undergo other perils 
and vicissitudes, and to make other exhibitions of 
courage, skill and endurance, before these last 
mentioned honors were conferred upon him. Regall 
was yet to be taken, and however keenly its defenders 
might feel the mortification and loss of three of 
their favorite champions, their determination to 
defend the place to the last moment was not a whit 
lessened by their fate. The works of the besiegers 
being at length completed for the grand assault, 
they opened upon the walls of the city with six and 
twenty pieces of artiller3\ In the space of fifteen 
days two breaches were made. These were defended 
by the Turks with all the earnestness of desperate 
men in maintenance of their last favorite places of 
retreat. A general assault at length was com- 
manded, and after a furious conflict, hand to hand, 
in which the assailants suffered severely, the town 
was entered by them sword in hand. The surviving 
defenders fled to the castle or citadel, as the only 
place of refuge. But this was not to be a place of 
refuge long. In vain did the little garrison send 
out a flag of truce, entreating composition with 
the besiegers. The prayer was rejected with scorn 
and indignation. The Christians had old massacres 
to avenge, and the castle, subjected to a like battery 
with that which had overthrown their ramparts, 
was taken the next day by storm. Then followed 
one of those terrible instances of havoc and brutality 
which, in all similar circumstances, in that and pre- 
ceding periods, has marked the victory obtained over 
walled places in the frenzied and exciting heat of 
actual conflict. Dreadful was the massacre which 
ensued. All who could bear arms were put indis- 
criminately to the sword, their heads cut off and set 

and put on record in the Heralds' College, England— see 
Apjpendix» 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 63 

around the walls upon stakes, such as had been done 
to the Christian defenders when the place had fallen 
into the hands of the present victims. Humanity 
asks without being answered, " What of the fair 
women, the beautiful and young, whose presence on 
the walls, at a more exhilarating moment, had 
stimulated the valor of knighthood, and whose 
smiles had lighted up the field of chivalry ? " The 
ferocious temper which spared not the submissive 
warrior, was not Hkety, in the desperate mood which 
the sacking of a city demands, to forbear excess and 
violence to the pleading and the loveliness of his 
women, particularly when the very faith with which 
they professed, placing them among the heathen, 
seemed of itself, in the estimation of that day of 
bigotry and superstition, to put them out of the pale 
of humanit3^ Though our adventurer spares us the 
melancholy details of this ferocious history, it is to 
his credit that his language, when he refers to the 
subject, is that of regret and sympathy. We have 
no reason to suppose that he ever had occasion to 
feel remorse for his share in these proceedings, or 
to reproach himself with deeds which were not per- 
formed in the heat of actual conflict, and under all 
the necessit}'' of self-defense. 

The ramparts of Eegall being repaired, and his 
own besieging works overthrown. Prince Moyses 
manned the place with a strong garrison, and pro- 
ceeded to other conquests. We need not say that 
Smith accompanied him. Like successes attended 
the Christians at Yeratio, Solmos and Kupronka. 
These places also fell by storm, were sacked — the 
garrison sharing a like fate Avith the arms-bearing 
inhabitants of Eegall, and the decrepid, the women 
and children, two thousand in number, being carried 
into captivity. We are to conjecture for ourselves 
the sort of experience, busy and bloody, of strife and 



54 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

slaughter, through which our hero passed in this 
melancholy procuress of sacks and sieges. But the 
heart of the soldier is not necessarily a callous one ; 
and the fervor of actual combat subsiding, the more 
genial humanities are apt to recover all their sway 
m the bosom which rather obeys the prompting of 
an impetuous nature, than the cold and cruel dic- 
tates of diseased and vexing passions. Smith's nar- 
rative is never allowed to shock our sensibilities. 
He speaks of the conflict in the spirit of the warrior ; 
but, the strife at rest, he seems to shrink from such 
details as degrade him from his humanity. It may 
be urged that he was not ignorant of the final issues 
of war, and the atrocious practises which usually 
accompanied it at that period, and in the wild coun- 
tries in which he waged it ; but this will be insisting 
upon standards of morality which did not belong to 
his time, and would not properly apply in the case 
of one so neglected in his youth and training as him- 
self. Besides, he was too much the creature of 
action, too fond of adventure in fields which tax all 
the energies of the soul and spirit, to be easily 
diverted from employments which gave exercise to 
these, because of the occasional repulsiveness of their 
conditions. Our object, however, is not to excuse 
but to represent him justly. A wild time and wild 
countries demand a prompt and unscrupulous cour- 
age. Though Smith laments the horrors of warfare, 
and speaks always with the gentleness and meekness 
of that better spirit which sometimes softened the 
aspects of the feudal ages, he is not to be driven 
from the profession of arms, because of its occa- 
sional massacres. We find him still commanding 
under Meldritch, though by this time certain politi- 
cal changes in the affairs of Transylvania left him 
no longer under the same superior. Hitherto, the 
Prince Sigismund, from whom he had received his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 55 

honors, had maintained a sufficiently bold front at 
once against the Turks and the emperor, whose 
authority he had defied, asserting for himself all the 
rights of an independent sovereign. But the strug- 
gle was too unequal. The resources of his prin- 
cipahty were exhausted in the conflict ; and, with 
the spectacle before his eyes of ravaged fields and 
wasted territories, the proud spirit of the Prince 
was humbled within him. Smith gives in a few 
words a painful description of the condition of the 
country after the close of this twofold struggle. 
From *being " one of the fruitfullest and strongest 
countries in those parts," it was become " rather a 
desert, or the very spectacle of desolation ; their 
fruits and fields overgrowne with weeds, their 
churches, and battered palaces, and best buildings, 
as for feare, hid with mosses and ivy : being the 
very bulwarke and rampire of a greate part of 
Europe, most fit by all Christians to have been sup- 
plyed and maintained, Avas thus brought to ruine by 
them it most concerned to support it." But what 
was the true interest of the country or of Europe to 
the prerogative of the Emperor? The latter was 
unyielding, and Sigismund, with a humane regard 
to the distresses of his people, craved a truce from 
his invader. This truce led to the desired conces- 
sions, which were followed by a partial disbanding 
of the army under Prince Moyses. Sigismund ac- 
cepted a munificent pension, and yielding up his 
perilous sovereignty, retired upon the rank and 
estate of a private nobleman. But this was an ar- 
rangement by no means satisfactory to all the par- 
ties. Young hawks must be fed ; and soldiers by 
trade are not the less willing to fight because they 
are disbanded. Prince Moj^ses, the lieutenant of 
Sigismund, declared his resolution never to submit 
to the Germans ; and disobeying the commands of 



fi(5 LITE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Sigismund — perhaps compelled by his troops to dis- 
regard them — he marched against the forces of the 
Emperor, commanded by one Busca, an Albanian. 
A few small successes which he obtained were fol- 
lowed by a bloody conflict, in which he was finally 
defeated, and fled for refuge to the Turks at Temes- 
vare. His overthrow removed all obstacles to the 
progress of the Emperor ; and it was not difficult 
to enlist the same soldiers of fortune who had fought 
for the one in the armies of the opposing Prince. 
It does not appear that Smith had made cause with 
Moyses in his insurrectionary and frantic movement 
against Busca. On the contrary, he seems to have 
adhered to the fortunes of his more immediate leader, 
the Earl of Meldritch, and soon found employment 
Avith him, as before, in defending the country from 
the infidel. There was no lack of employment in 
those days, and in that region, for the warlike man- 
at-arms. The Turk was no such imbecile as we find 
him now, to be trodden upon and buffeted with im- 
punity by all his neighbors. There were few of the 
contiguous nations, indeed, which at that time he 
did not cause to tremble ; and his restless ambition 
rendered necessary to maintenance of veteran armies 
everywhere along the frontiers of his empire. Wal- 
lachia was then a Turkish province, the people of 
which revolting against the tyranny of their vaivode 
or governor, one Jeremias, expelled him from their 
territory, and called in the assistance of the em- 
peror's forces. These were not slow in coming at 
the call, and at their presence and with their assist- 
ance, a new vaivode was proclaimed in the person 
of Lord EodolL But Jeremias, the governor who 
had been expelled, having succeeded in assembling 
a numerous army of forty thousand men, prepared 
to contest the authority which had succeeded to his 
own, and to subdue and scourge the revolt among 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 5^ 

his subjects. EodoU, unable to contend with such 
an army, fled at its approach, and took shelter among 
the Transylvanians. It became necessary to assert 
the rights of the new vaivode by force of arms, and 
Busca, anxious to furnish employment to the old 
regiments of Sigismund, of whose fidelity he seems 
to have had some doubts, found no difficulty in 
yielding them for this purpose, to the application 
of the fugitive. It was thus that Smith, still under 
the command of his old leader, the Earl of Meldritch, 
again took the field against his ancient enemy, the 
Turk. Meldritch led to the support of Rodoll a 
powerful army of thirty thousand men. This body 
of troops, well trained, well officered and admirably 
experienced, was perhaps the most veteran force in 
Transylvania. This army, penetrating "Wallachia, 
advanced upon the camp of Jeremias, who lay 
strongly entrenched in the plains of Peteski, await- 
ing reinforcements from the Crim Tartars. Here 
the Christians encamped also, watching their enemy, 
but not daring to assail him in the strong position 
w^hich he held. Frequent conflicts took place be- 
tween small parties of the opposing forces, which 
were chiefly remarkable for the shocking cruelties 
which they practised. "While Rodoll beheaded his 
prisoners, and flung their gory heads by night into 
the Turkish trenches, the latter, not to*^ be outdone 
in brutality, flayed his victims alive, and staked the 
still warm carcasses on huge poles in sight of their 
infuriated comrades. To seduce Jeremias from his 
entrenchments, Rodoll fell upon a plan of retreat, 
which was intended to have all the appearance of a 
flight. His scheme was well devised, and at a given 
period, firing the country as he withdrew from his 
camp, he retired in the night upon the Brinki in 
seeming precipitation. The ruse had the desired 
effect. The Turks, against the will of their com- 



68 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

mander, forced him to lead them in pursuit, and 
while the rear-guard of EodoU was skirmishing with 
the advance parties of his enemy, the main body of 
his army was putting itself in the most favorable 
position for the reception of the pursuing foe. Smith 
gives us a lively account of the battle which ensued. 
He is one of those frank and generous natures which 
shows no reluctance in declaring the merits as well 
of friend and enemy. Meldritch and Busendorfe he 
describes " rather like enraged lions than like men," 
and fighting the assailants " as if in them only had 
consisted the victory." Meldritch's horse is slain 
under him, and the desire of the Turks to make him 
prisoner, and of his own followers to save him from 
this peril, makes the battle hottest where he stands. 
He is remounted, and " it is thought with his owne 
hands he slew the valiant Zanzacke, whereupon his 
troopes retyring, the two proud bashawes, Aladdin 
and Zezimmus, brought up the front of the body of 
their battel." The fight becomes desperate and 
bloody. The bravery and skill of Jeremias, which 
are highly commended by our hero, leave it for some 
time doubtful, even with the object of his stratagem 
obtained, if Kodoll will remain the victor. The con- 
flict is one of individual combats, and becomes a 
massacre rather than a fight. *' There was scarce 
ground to stand upon," says Smith, " but upon the 
dead carkasses which, in less than an hower, were 
so mingled as if each regiment had singled out the 
other." It is really pleasing to hear him sj^eak of 
the Turkish champions. "The admired Aladdin," 
says he, " that day did leave behinde him a glorious 
name for his valour, whose death many of his 
enemies did lament after the victorie." " Zezimmus, 
the bashaw, was taken prisoner, but died presently 
of his wounds." " Jeremie * * -^ like a valiant 
prince in the front of the vantgard, by his example 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 59 

SO bravely encouraged his soldiers that RodoU found 
no great assurance of the victorie." But the victory 
filially fell to the Christians. Their veteran expe- 
rience determined the odds in their favor. The 
havoc had been immense. The Turks lost their 
bravest officers, and not less than twenty -five thou- 
sand dead of both armies were left upon the field, a 
bloody proof of the resolute hatred of the opposing 
legions. Of his own share in this battle. Smith 
modestly tells us nothing. His eulogies upon the 
valorous deeds of others, friend and foe, leave him 
no room to relate his own. But a struggle so hotly 
and so closely contested, with regiment gra]3pling 
regiment over the bodies of slain comrades, is not 
likely to have been spared the exhibitions of that 
spirit, skill, strength and courage, w^hich had so often 
individualized his previous career. TVe have no 
doubt that our adventurer did not suffer himself 
to be outdone, and his own glory obscured, by any 
Turk or Christian in the two arrays. He did not 
repose upon the laurels of Regall, but in all proba- 
bility dyed his sanguinary chaplet trebly red in the 
havoc of that mortal struggle. 



60 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER Yin. 

Jeremie, the leader of the Turks, after performing 
prodigies of valor, escaped from the field with some 
lourteen thousand men, making his way to Moldavia. 
Lord Rodoll resumed his rule as vaivode in Walla- 
chia ; but his fate seemed resolute that he should not 
hold it long without disturbance. The Turks and 
Tartars again drew to a head in numbers, and, under 
the conduct of Jeremie, who had succeeded in uniting 
the remnant of his forces with other troops in Mol- 
davia, again appeared upon the field. The numbers 
of his arniy had been greatly underrated ; and Mel- 
dritch, laboring under this error, was sent against him 
with but thirteen thousand men. With an enemy 
before him numbering nearly forty -five thousand 
men, Meldritch slowly yielded to a pressure which it 
would have been madness to resist. He retired to- 
wards Kot teuton, a strongly garrisoned town of the 
vaivode, but was terribly harassed by his enemy on 
the retreat. The skirmishing parties of the two 
armies were in constant collision, and not without 
advantage to the Christian army ; which, however, 
still continued its retrograde movement, made 
momently more and more conscious, by the accumu- 
lating presence of the foe, of the tremendous dispar- 
ity between the two forces. A night march which 
Meldritch's troops made, with incredible expedition 
through a wood, brought them unexpectedly upon 
two thousand of the Turks laden with plunder. 
Favored by a thick morning fog which concealed 
their approach from the foe, they immediately 



LIFE OF CJIPTAIN JOHN SMITH. (Jl 

charged with complete success, slaying many, and 
taking numerous prisoners. But this success was 
accompanied by the knowledge, gained from their 
captives, that their rapidity of march had availed 
them nothing. They were apprised that Jeremie 
with his Turks had got in advance of them, and now 
lay in waiting, guarding the only pass through which 
they could escape. To support him in his position, 
the Tartars, twice his number, were approaching at 
a little distance, conscious of their vast superiority 
of force, and eager for their prey. The prospect only 
increased the desperate valor of the Christians. It 
became necessary to force the passage, if possible, 
before the junction of the Tartars with the Turkish 
army under Jeremie ; and here, again, the ingenuity 
of the "English Smith," as he styles himself, was 
put in requisition for the relief of the beleaguered 
army. Smith, remembering the excellent success 
which had followed his experiments of " fiery drag- 
ons" and "false musketeers" on previous occa- 
sions, conceived the idea of a " pretty stratagem of 
fireworks," of which he instantly advised his supe- 
rior. By means of these he proposed to diminish 
materially the danger and difficulties of fighting his 
way through such a host as that of Jeremie, in the 
advantageous position which the latter occupied. 
Meldritch, w^ho had already seen the excellent skill 
which our hero possessed in gunpowder, gave ready 
ear to his suggestions. The plan of Smith was quite 
simple. RocKets, of a highly explosive and eccen- 
tric character were immediately prepared, and fas-- 
tened to the ends of their lances ; and under cover 
of the night the passage was attempted. The expe- 
dient had all the success which was expected from it. 
The rockets, two or three hundred in number — 
" truncks of wild-fire "—at the end of the charging 
spears, " blazed forth such flames and sparkles, that 



63 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

it SO amazed not only their horses but their foot 
also, that, by the meanes of this flaming encounter 
their owne horses turned tailes with such fur}^ as 
by their violence overthrew Jeremias and his 
army, without any losse at all to speak of to Mel- 
dritch." The Turks were in fact beaten and driven 
from the field by this simple stratagem, and the 
dangerous passage was passed, with hopes of safety 
renewed among the Christians, having so unexpect- 
edly surmounted the obstacle which had been so 
much feared. Truly, the English Smith was a 
valuable companion in a moment of emergency ; 
and it is to be recognized as a sufficient proof of the 
estimation in which he was held, that he finds his 
way at pleasure to tlie private ear of his superior, 
and his counsel is usually adopted with ready confi- 
dence. 

But the success of the " pretty stratagem of fire- 
works " was only temporary. They had discomfited 
Jeremie, but the Tartar with his forty thousand 
men lay still in the path. The army of Meldritch 
Avas now reduced to eleven thousand only. Press- 
ing forward with this remnant with more speed 
than prudence, they encountered the enemy in force 
within three leagues of Eottenton, the fortified city 
which they aimed to reach. The position in which 
the two armies encountered was such as to render 
it impossible to escape the conflict. The alternative 
for fight was to " be cut to pieces flying." 

" Here," says Smith, bitterly, reviewing the 
danger, " here Busca and the emperor had their de- 
sire." His allusion is to the obvious anxiety of the 
Germans to be rid of auxiliaries, whose very fidelity 
made them suspected by his enemy and successor, 
and whose veteran valor he had excellent reason to 
fear. It is in this place that our adventurer ex- 
hibits the glow and ardor of that spirit which was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 63 

at the bottom of his chivalrjr. It is here, in his 
book, that his tones rise, and his voice dilates in the 
swelling language of the Spaniard. And there is a 
rude vein of poetry apparent in his narrative at this 
and other like places, which reminds us of the verses 
of genuine bards. Thus when he says, " The sunne 
no sooner displayed his beames than the Tartar his 
colours," we feel that he is quite as natural, and 
even more happy in his figure, than Dan Chaucer 
in the famous line — 

" Uprose the sunne, and uprose Emilie," 

since the pomp and splendor of the image which 
furnished the comparison is much more appropriate 
to the gorgeous aspects of battle than to the mak- 
ing of a damsel's toilet. 

The terrors and dangers of the approaching con- 
flict do not render our hero indifferent to the beauty 
and magnificence of the spectacle. " It was a most 
brave sight," he exclaims, " to see the banners and 
ensigns streaming in the aire, the glittering of ar- 
mour, the variety of colours, the motion of plumes, 
the forests of lances, and the thicknesse of shorter 
weapons, till the silent expedition of the bloody 
blast from the murdering ordnance, whose roaring 
voice is not so soone heard as felt by the aymed-at 
object, which made among them a most lamentable 
slauofhter." 

Delivered up to almost certain destruction by 
what Smith styles — having reference, we suppose, 
to the emperor in withholding succor — "a tyran- 
nical and treacherous imposture," "a cowardly 
calamity," fche Christian army prepared for the ter- 
rible encounter with the coolness and resolve of 
veterans. It was "in the valley of Yeristhorne, be- 
twixt the river of Altus and the mountain of Kot- 



64r LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

tenton," that " this bloody encounter" took place, 
" where the most of the dearest friends of the noble 
Prince Sigisraundus perished." The afifectionate 
manner in which Smith speaks of this Prince, and 
of the followers whose fidelity he had experienced, 
is very pleasing and honorable. His sense of the 
beauty of fidelity is another of those traits of 
chivalry, which are conspicuous equally in the events 
of his life, and in the narrative which records them. 
He dwells with more than ordinary minuteness up- 
on this last fatal battle. 

Meldritch, always a good captain, made the best 
possible disposition of his forces. His eleven thou- 
sand men were drawn up at the foot of the moun- 
tain, and in their front and on their flanks sharp 
stakes, hardened in the fire and bent against the 
enemy, were planted in the earth. By digging nu- 
merous holes at frequent intervals along the line, it 
was aimed still farther to lessen the vast superiority 
which the Tartars possessed in cavalry. The in- 
fantry was ranged amon^ the stakes, having orders 
to retire behind them when they found themselves 
too severely pressed. All the precautions which 
Avere practicable in the condition of their affairs seem 
to have been taken with deliberate coolness and re- 
solve — the preparations made being of a character 
to show, that it was the conviction of the Christian 
commander that the struggle was a final one for 
life rather than victory — though, in such an issue, 
the former seems necessarily to imply the other. 

It was noon before the armies joined battle : " the 
sunne " that had risen so gloriously, according to 
Smith, " for shame did hide himselfe from so mon- 
strous sight of a cowardly calamity." But the ca- 
lamity, however great, could not suffer from the re- 
proach of cowardice, unless it be charged upon the 
Tartar forces in regard to their overwhelming nu- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 6^ 

merical superiority. These, forty thousand in num- 
ber, were also arrayed for the struggle with skill 
and judgment. The battle was begun by Mustapha 
Bey, who came on, gallantly enough, in the midst of 
a storm of music from drums, trumpets and hautboys. 
He was bravely met, and beaten back by the regi- 
ments of horse under IsTederspolt and Mavazo. His 
attack was followed up by the bold and headlong 
onslaught of a Tartar chief named Begolgi, whose 
advancing squadrons darkened the skies with their 
multitudinous arrows. The lieutenants, Yeltus and 
Oberwin, struggled under this terrible pressure for 
more than an hour, yielded finally, and sank agree- 
ably to order behind the stakes which had been 
planted for their safety against this very emergency. 
Then followed, heedless of this obstruction, of which 
hitherto they had seen nothing, the blind rush of 
the Tartar cavalry. "It was a wxDnder," says 
Smith, "to see how horse and man came to the 
ground." 

The disorder was so great among these " mangled 
troopes," in consequence of this unlooked-for disaster, 
that the Christians, enlivened by new hopes, began 
to shout for victory ; and, with five or six field- 
pieces which now played with effect upon the dis- 
comfited horsemen, succeeded for a brief space in 
arresting the assailants. But the hope was illusory. 
The respite was for an instant only. The Turks 
soon recovered from their disorder and surprise, and 
renewed the combat with new legions and a fresher 
fury. Their reckless onslaught, and swarming mul- 
titudes, soon satisfied Meldritch that nothing short 
of a miracle could save his army, that any hope of 
victory was idle, and that all that now remained for 
him to attempt, was to cut his way through the 
enemy with a select body of his men. With this 
resolution he drew together his choice troops and 
5 



ee LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

his reserve, and gave orders for the desperate charge. 
The attempt was only in part successful. The pas- 
sage was made by Meldritch himself and some four- 
teen hundred horse, who succeeded by swimming in 
throwing the river Altus between themselves and 
their pursuers. But heavy was the toll which he 
had to pay in making that passage. Numbers fell 
in the flight, and amon;^ these many of his bravest 
officers. Of the sanguinary terrors of that conflict 
some idea may be gathered from the fact, that of 
both armies thirty thousand men were left upon the 
field. Kor did the commons suffer onl3\ Earls and 
barons, colonels and captains — the brave generals 
Nederspolt, Yeltus, Zarvana, Mavazo, and Bavell — 
were among the slain ; and Smith, with praiseworthy 
patriotism, does not omit to make a record which he 
deems honorable to his native land. " Give me leave," 
says he, " to remember the names of our owne coun- 
trymen * * in these exploits, that, as resolutely as 
the best, in the defence of Christ and his Gospell 
ended their dayes; as Baskerfield^ Ilardioicke^ 
Thomas Milemer^ Robert Mollineux, Thomas Bishops 
Francis ComiJton^ George Damson^ Nicholas Wil- 
liams^ and one John^ a Scot, did what men could 
doe ; and when they could doe no more left there 
their bodies, in testimonie of their mindes. Onl}^ En- 
sign e Carlston and Sergeant Robinson escaped." 

Smith himself was left severely wounded, and 
seemingly dead, among a heap of the slain. His 
rich armor drew the attention of the conquerors, 
while his groans, uttered in his unconsciousness, 
showed him to be still alive. His life was spared in 
consideration of his ransom. Carefully nursed and 
tended, his wounds were healed, his strength grad- 
ually recovered, and when fit for inspection, he was 
offered for sale in the slave-markets of Axiopolis. 
He was bought by the Bashaw Bogall, and sent by 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 67 

him in chains to his "faire mistresse" at Constan- 
tinople. " By twentie and twentie, chained by the 
neckes, they marched in files to this great citie, 
where the}^ were delivered to their several masters, 
and he (Smith) to the young Charatza Tragabig- 
zandaP 



68 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTEE IX. 

The Bashaw Bogall, though no hero, was yet 
ambitious of the fame of one ; and, in sending Sniith 
to his mistress, he committed the blunder — to sa}'' 
nothing of the Avorse offense against morals — of 
teUing her that the captain was a Bohemian noble- 
man, who had yielded to the vigor of his own right 
arm in battle. The personal appearance of Smith 
was in his favor ; and his address soon awakened in 
the fair Charatza a degree of interest which was not 
allowed to escape his notice. To what extent he 
availed himself of this discovery, his own modesty 
forbids us to know. That he won her affections is 
unquestionable. The story of the wooing, as told in 
his own narrative, reminds us strongly of that of 
Othello. The narrative which she had received 
from Bogall prompted her discourse. She sought 
him from time to time, and demanded of him the 
particulars of his overthrow by her lover. "When 
she heard the falsehood of the tale with which the 
latter had imposed upon her, her indignation against 
the impostor prepared the way for another sort of 
feeling for himself. She could speak the Italian 
language, and as he had traveled in Italy, there was 
no impediment to their free communication with one 
another. When he told her that he had never seen 
Bogall till he had been sold to him in the slave 
market of Axiopolis — that he was no Bohemian, but 
an Englishman, who had succeeded by his prowess 
to a command in Wallachia — her curiosity and in- 
terest increased in the captive. But she did not 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 69 

yield herself implicitly and without proper precau- 
tion to his narrative. She tried his veracity by in- 
quiries proposed to other persons — slaves also, we 
suppose, who could speak the English French and 
Dutch languages — by all of whom the honesty of 
Smith's assurances was confirmed, and her sympathy 
with him — Smith calls it " compassion," — was neces- 
sarily strengthened and increased. As she arrived 
cautiously at her " compassion," so she observed a 
like degree of caution in giving it utterance. She 
was not herself sufficienty free to do boldly what 
she desired ; but when she sought the society of her 
slave she feigned sickness, which enabled her to dis- 
card other company for that of the preferred one. 
She had lonely moments, sad ones, when it pleased 
her mood to retire to " weepeover the graves ; " and 
we are permitted to fancy that on such occasions 
Smith was always nigh to give her lessons in Eng- 
lish, or to confirm her practise in Italian. The 
burial-places among the Moslems are rare and beau- 
tiful retreats — frequently garden-spots, filled with 
singing birds — and the stately and solemn moods of 
the people render them highly eligible as places of 
resort to the contemplative and gentle spirit. 
Their superstition somewhat increases the security 
of such places, and the loving as well as the sorrow- 
ing heart may thus equally find them useful. It is 
quite natural that an author should become abrupt 
at this stage of his narrative. It belongs to him, 
as a p^'eux chevalier, to relate only what is un- 
avoidably necessary to his biography. But he had 
won her heart, and the discovery," unfortunately, 
was made b}^ others quite as soon perhaps as by the 
parties. Charatza is suddenly alarmed lest her 
mother should sell her favorite. She is not her own 
mistress, and dares not openly oppose this design. 
She finds but one way to avert it, and that is by 



70 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMTTB. 

sending bira to her brother Timour Bashaw, of TTal- 
britz, in Gambia, one of the provinces of Tartary. 
This proceeding satisfies the mother, since her only 
object was to separate the maiden from the captive 
in whom she had such a tender interest. But 
never could choice be more unfortunate. The letter 
which Charatza wrote to her brother unhappily be- 
trayed to him her secret. She relied too much 
upon his regard for herself, and did not hesitate to 
demand from him the best of usage for the prisoner. 
Ilis sojourn in Tartary was to be temporary only, for 
the purpose of acquiring the habits and the language 
of the Turks, and until time should make her mistress 
of her own person. This last suggestion, which so 
completely betrayed the nature of the interest 
which she*^ felt in the captive, awakened all the na- 
tional bigotry in the bosom of the brother. It pro- 
voked a treatment equally prompt and cruel, which 
the poor Charatza little fancied would befall her 
favorite. The haughty Bashaw was not prepared 
to countenance such a connection between his sister 
and her slave. To degrade the object of her inter- 
est was his first movement ; and within an hour 
after his arrival, our adventurer was stripped naked, 
his head and beard shaven "so bare as his hand," 
his body clad in undressed skins and haircloth, and 
a heavy ring of iron, " with a long stalke bowed 
like a sickle riveted about his neck." The rest of his 
treatment was of the same description. He was 
tasked with the vilest labors, in a condition, as he 
himself expresses it, beyond the endurance of a 
dog ; — a slave, as the last comer, to the whole herd of 
slaves, hundreds in number, in bonds to this petty 
tyrant ; who, " for all their paines and labours, no 
more regarded them than a beast." 

Smith was an attentive observer, so far as his 
opportunities would allow, of the peculiarities, the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 71 

manners, and condition of the country, no matter 
what were the circumstances in which he found him- 
self. Though his narrative is usually a meager one, 
he yet suffers us to see that he notes all things with 
a shrewd and military eye. We have constant 
proofs of it in his pages, which are seldom heedful 
of very nice details. Thus, in his transit from Con- 
stantinople to Nalbritz, we have a bird's-eye view of 
places and objects on the route, though it is not al- 
ways easy to identify the points which fix his at- 
tention, under the names or the orthography^ which 
he employs in designating them, with such as are 
familiar to us now. Nor is it important that we 
should. A prisoner, closely watched and guarded, 
is not likely to see much of curious interest in his 
progress, and ours is a biography, not a book of 
travels. 

He remarks always the face of the country ; how 
the towns lie ; what are the approaches by water ; 
how the forts are built, and their apparent strength 
or weakness ; straits, how defended ; channels, how 
obstructed, or how accessible ; and sometimes gives 
us a bit of military history, as applicable to the 
particular place which attracts his attention. All 
this he does unobtrusively, and without the slightest 
pretension. 

As a bondsman among the Tartars, he was com- 
pelled to notice other things, as well as to perform 
other duties, which hitherto had received but little 
of his attention. Several chapters of his memoirs 
are given to the diet of the Turks ; to their slaves ; 
the attire of the Tartars ; their religion ; modes of 
warfare ; modes of living ; feasts ; estates ; buildings ; 
tributes ; laws ; justice ; slaves ; entertainment of 
embassies ; armies and levies ; arms ; provisions for 
armies ; division of spoil, etc. "Where his personal 
observation fails in regard to these subjects, he 



72 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

pieces it out with materials drawn from books ; and 
in all probability, after coming out of captivity, he 
read all that he conveniently could in relation to the 
countries which he had traversed, or in which he 
had been held in bondage. His own observations 
are not favorable to the Mussulmans. Their food 
disgusts him ; their drink ; their loathsome and 
filthy habits ; and, as a matter of course, their brutal 
treatment of the captive. But Smith saw things 
through the rings of his fetters, and his picture of 
the people and the country could scarce be other 
than untavorable. He certainly takes away, by his 
description, much of the picturesque in the habits 
and history of the wandering Tartars. He pays 
willing tribute to their laws and justice as admin- 
istered among their own people; and frankly 
credits their hardihood of life, their physical consti- 
tution, their agility and strength, their horseman- 
ship, their prompt obedience, and their endurance 
of evil without complaint. The four chapters which 
he devotes to these subjects, while they prove his 
good sense, excellent judgment, and vigilant obser- 
vation, are scarcely of any interest in the present 
advanced state of onr knowledge in regard to the 
condition of the several countries to w^hich they re- 
late ; to say nothing of the material changes in habit 
and character which Turk and Tartar have under- 
gone since the period when they were written. They 
suffice only to show how diligent was his mind, and 
how patient his watch, that could enable him to see 
and remember so much while in the irksome bonds, 
and busy in the degrading labors to which he found 
himself condemned. How long he remained in these 
bonds is uncertain. His own narrative is silent on 
the subject ; but from the period when he was made 
prisoner to that in which he returned to Transyl- 
vaniaj the interval is something short of one year. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 73 

An obscure passage in one of his chapters leads to 
the inference that he may have been something 
over six months a bondsman with Timour Bashaw. 
In this period he was without consolation. The 
sj^mpathies of woman, the blandishments of love, no 
longer lightened his sorrows. He heard nothing 
from the fair Charatza, upon whose affection he 
built his only hope of delivery from thraldom. 
She was, in his own words, " surely ignorant of his 
bad usage ; " or if not ignorant she was not per- 
mitted to continue or to resume an intrigue which 
so much revolted the pride of her watchful parent, 
and despotic brother. But though disappointed and 
wearied with the hope deferred, he did not despond. 
He did not rely upon the one hope only. He was 
not the m^an to wait events when he might shape 
and give them impulse, and he frequently discussed 
with his fellow-bondsmen the subject of their con- 
dition, and the probabilities in favor of any attempt 
which might be made for their escape. But these 
gave him no encouragement. Neither " reason nor 
possibility " encouraged their attempts. He prob- 
ably found among them no such spirit as his own ; 
the long period of their slavery having somewhat 
reconciled them to its severities. 

Smith had not reached this condition of resigna- 
tion, and he was to find the door of his prison-house 
unfolded at a moment when he least expected it. 
" God," he exclaims, with that complacenc}^ which 
prompts every adventurous mind — every man of 
genius, in other words — to consider himself the child 
of a peculiar destiny : " God, beyond man's expec- 
tation or imagination, helpeth his servants when they 
least thinke of helpe, as it hapned to him." In com- 
mon speech, an opportunity offered itself at once for 
escape and vengeance, and his manly courage did 
not suffer it to pass unemployed. His task, for some 



^4: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

time previous, had been to tbrasli corn at a country- 
house, more than a league distant from the dwelling 
of his Tartar lord. To this place the hitter frequently 
came, and on all such occasions Smith was particu- 
larly the victim of his ill-usage. The affections of 
the sister had provoked the antipathies of the brother, 
and our adventurer was thus made to endure abuses 
in due proportion to those delights which had soothed 
him in the first days of his captivity. It was by 
beating and buffeting her slave, that Timour did 
justice to the entreaties made in his behalf b}^ the 
loved and loving Charatza Tragabigzanda. He was 
destined to repeat this wanton exercise once too 
frequently for the patience of his captive. On this 
occasion it so happened that the circumstances were 
all favorable to the latter. The two were alone to- 
gether in a spot removed from the other prisoners, 
remote, indeed, from the observation of all ; and 
when the petty tyrant, in his humor, smote the slave 
over his task,'^the ordinary thrashing flail which he 
worked with became the ready implement of his 
defense and vengeance. Stung to fury by the re- 
peated indignities, and counseled by the auspicious 
circumstances of the occasion, the love of the sister 
was forgotten in the rage which the brutality of the 
brother had provoked, and darting upon his tyrant 
unexpectedly, Smith beat out his brains in an in- 
stant. 

The deed was done as effectually as suddenly. But 
this was only the beginning of the game. There 
wr.s no time to lose, and with the same readiness 
and resolution as he had shown in slaying his enemy, 
our hero dressed himself in his garments and threw 
his carcass out of sight beneath the straw. This 
done, he filled his knapsack with corn, closed the 
doors, and mounting the Tartar's horse, which stood 
in waiting, he pushed with all speed, at a venture, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 76 

for the solitude of the desert. He knew nothing of 
the route before him ; could not even conjecture wJnit 
course to pursue to avoid his enemies, and thus wan- 
dered wildly forward, not daring to seek information, 
but rather striving to avoid encounter with all along 
the road. For three days he wandered thus desper- 
ately, and in this miserable manner. But the child of 
destiny once more finds himself the object of a special 
providence. The power which had favored him thus 
far seems to have guided his footsteps in a peculiar 
manner, since the first intimation of his whereabouts 
and route which he received, was from the sign of 
the cross ! This was a huge guide post set up by 
the wayside, and shaped like the cross, to indicate 
the highway to Muscovy, a Christian country. Such 
a symbol, thus encountered, might well, in the case 
of a Christian, be regarded as an auspicious augury; 
and Smith so esteemed it. The God whom he served, 
had directed his unconscious footsteps to the symbol 
of his Redeemer's sufferings ; and Smith was xery 
far from being unmoved by the unlooked-for cir- 
cumstance. He has previously given himself up to 
despair, " even as taking leave of this miserable 
world ; " — when " to his dying spirits thus God added 
some comfort in this melancholy journe}^ wherein, 
if he had met any of that vilde generation, they had 
made him their slave ; or knowing the figure en- 
graven in the iron about his necke (as all slaves have), 
he had beene sent back again to his master." The 
sign of the cross, at the foot of which he suddenly 
finds himself, was the sign of his safety, and filled 
him with new confidence and courage. Now, this 
emblem was only one of manv which, according to 
Smith's account, are common to the country. It is 
by such symbols, adapted to the particular nation, 
that the Mussulmans indicate the people to whose 
territories their fingers point. Thus, while the cross 



76 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

denotes the route to Muscovy, the " half moone " 
shows that " to Cry m-Tartarj^ f " " a blacke man, full 
of white spots," guides to Persia and the Georgians ; 
and " a picture of the sunne to China." But the 
naturalness of this discovery did not lessen its relig- 
ious influence upon him. In this sign, even more 
certainly than in the case of Constantino, lay the 
hope of our adventurer. He darted exultingly along 
the path which it pointed out, and, in dread and 
tribulation, but still in hope and without disaster, 
lie pursued for sixteen days his solitary journey, ar- 
riving at the end of this time at Ecopolis, a garrison 
of the Russians upon the river Don. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 77 



CHAPTER X. 

It was the peculiar good fortune of our adven- 
turer in all situations of great emergency and dis- 
tress, to enlist the sympathies and secure the assist- 
ance of individuals of the gentler sex. We have seen 
the place which he seems to have taken, almost at the 
first glance, in the affections of the Turkish damsel, 
the fair Charatza Tragabigzanda ; and his arrival 
at Ecopolis conducts him to the smiles and bounty 
of another lady, equally Christian in character, and 
more so by education. This was the lady Calla- 
mata, who "largely supplied all his wants." We 
know nothing more of her than this. Nothing is 
said in the narrative to awaken a single suspicion of 
the perfect purity and simplicity of her benevolence. 
With that respectful and considerate regard for the 
sex, which invariably marks the bearing of our hero 
when he approaches them, his language is frank yet 
unequivocal, — gentle and affectionate, yet always 
within the limits of a becoming warmth and pro- 
priety. " The Good Lady Callamata largely sup- 
plied all his wants," is the single phrase which de- 
clares his obligations in the text. Subsequently, in 
his dedication of the " Generall Historic of Virginia, 
etc.," to the " Illustrious and most noble Princesse, 
the Lady Francis, Duchesse of Richmond and 
Lenox," he sums up his general indebtedness to the 
sex in a single paragraph, for which this may be a 
place quite as appropriate as any. Apologizing for 
his presumption in calling an eye " so piercing " and 
"so glorious" as that of her grace, to view his 



78 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

"poore ragged lines," he is yet encouraged by the 
recollection of their previous kindness and indul- 
gence. " My comfort is that heretofore honorable 
and vertuous ladies, and comparable but amongst 
tliemselves, have offered me rescue and protection 
in my greatest dangers. Even in forraine parts I 
have felt reliefe from that sex. The beauteous Lady 
Tragabigzanda, when I was a slave to the Turkes, 
did all she could to secure (succour ? ) me. When I 
overcame the Bashaw of Nalbritz, in Tartaria, the 
charitable Lady Callamata supplied my necessities. 
In the utmost of many extremities, that blessed 
Pokahontas, the great King's daughter of Virginia, 
oft saved my life. When I escaped the cruelties of 
Pirats and most furious stormes, a long time alone 
in a small boat at sea, and driven ashore in France, 
the good lady, Madam Chanoyes, bountifully as- 
sisted me. And so, verily, these my adventures 
have tasted the same influence from your gratious 
hand, etc." 

This is all perfectly unexceptionable, and we do 
not perceive in this accumulation of references any 
signs of that com})lacency Avhich, in the case of such 
a person, having such a history to unfold, might 
seem pardonable enough. What is said in regard 
to the Lady Callamata, does not show her to have 
been influenced by an}^ feelings less pure and more 
passionate than that of a human and a Christian 
sympathy and pitV. But some of his eulogists are 
less forbearing, and make larger assertions when 
they come to deal in rhyme ; and the good Lady 
Callamata who, for aught that we know, may^ have 
been an ancient matron, entirely past the period of 
youthful susceptibility, is described in the same cate- 
gory with the Turkish damsel, who only waited to 
be her own mistress to become his. One of these 
poets, who signs himself " K Braithwaite," writes, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 79 

in the midst of other doggerel, such lines as the 
following : 

♦' But what's all this? Even earth, sea, heaven above, 
Tragabigzanda, Callamata's love, 
Dear Pocahontas, Madame Shanois, too. 
Who did what love with modesty could do," etc. 

"We see no reason, and find no authority for the 
imputation. Smith does no more, in the case of 
this lady, than acknowledge her bounty to an unfor- 
tunate. And this is done with the gentlemanly 
solicitude of one who is habitually earnest in his 
deference to the sex. That his personal bearing had 
its effect upon those, of both sexes, by whom he w^as 
favorabh^ entertained, is very likely. That it quick- 
ened the'^pulses of female charity is probable enough. 
He seems to have been of that class of persons who 
impress favorably at a glance ; ^vas manly and 
graceful, exceedingly courteous in his bearing, frank 
in his deportment, and of features at once pleasing 
and impressive. He linds ready credence when he 
shows himself, and his narrative is heard. It is not 
from the Lady Callamata alone that he finds favor 
at Ecopolis. The governor takes off his irons, treats 
him so kindly that '•' he thought himself new risen 
from death ; " and when he is invigorated and pre- 
pared to depart, gives him letters of recommenda- 
tion and the protection of a convoy to Ilermanstadt, 
in Transylvania. His melancholy story of captivity 
precedes him on his route ; and his journey through 
the wretched and sterile regions which he is com- 
pelled to pass, is everywhere soothed by the atten- 
tion of the people. The grateful heart of our adven- 
turer prompts him to declare, that " in all his life 
he seldome met with more respect, mirth, content, 
and entertainment; and not any governor where he 
came, but gave him somewhat as a present besides 
his charges." The sympathy of the people was due 



80 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

in some degree to their common liabilit}'- to a fate 
such as that from which he had the good fortune to 
escape. At that period, the wretched country which 
he traversed was obnoxious to the frequent incur- 
sions of the Tartars ; and it was but seldom that the 
people who were borne into captivity were so fortu- 
nate as to be able to return and tell the story. The 
story of our hero was one, therefore, which found 
its echo upon the hearth of many a peasant. Yet, 
says Smith, "it is a wonder [that] any should 
make warres for them." — " They are countries 
rather to be pitied than envied." He pauses to de- 
scribe their hovels, which are like the meanest log- 
cabins of our frontier ; their modes of defense ; their 
weapons ; and the manner in which their roads are 
constructed ; — all of which indicate the very lowest 
condition of human civilization. 

Arrived in Transylvania, he had the satisfaction 
of meeting with many of his old friends and asso- 
ciates, who, knowing his worth and valor, had long 
lamented him as among the slain on the fatal field 
near Rottenton. Among these friends were his 
colonel, Meldritch, and Prince Sigismund. They 
received him with open arms, and attentions so affec- 
tionate and warm, that he professes himself " glutted 
with content, and neere drowned with joy." It was 
on this occasion that he received his honors from the 
hands of Sigismund, and fifteen hundred ducats of 
gold to repair his losses. " But to see and rejoyce 
himselfe (after all those encounters) in his native 
country," he would scarcely have torn himself away 
from his friends in Transylvania. 

The liberality of Sigismund, whom he styles " the 
mirror of virtue," enabled him to traverse a consid- 
erable portion of Germany, France, and Spain ; to 
linger in their principal cities, and visit all places 
that seem to promise most gratification to his curl- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 81 

osity. It is probable that while his ducats lasted he 
found sufficient excitement in the populous cities of 
Europe ; and felt no great thirst after new adven- 
tures. He forgets for a season that he was hurrying 
home " to rejoyce himself in his native country," 
and makes a tour which in extent would, even at 
the present day of steam navigation, do honor to 
a traveler going abroad for the first time. Satisfied 
at length, as he himself tells us, with Europe and 
Asia, and hearing of the wars in Barbary, he sud- 
denly feels an impulse to new adventures in this 
quarter, which it is not possible for him to with- 
stand. In all probability it has become necessary 
to replenish his purse. To return to England as 
destitute as when he left it, scarcely comports with 
his ambition : and though he tells us nothing of this 
sort, the suggestion is by no means inconsistent 
with his own conduct, and with the nature of the 
individual. He proceeds accordingly to the African 
coast, where he forms an intimacy with the captain 
of a French man-of-war, named Merham, who soon 
became attracted to our adventurer, and appears to 
have become quite as fond of him as the Lady 
Callamata. Wich this person, and twelve others, 
he goes on an excursion to Morocco, the ancient 
monuments of which he desired to examine. He 
gives us, in the space of a couple of chapters, a brief 
but comprehensive account of the things he saw, 
and a summary of what he had learned by reading 
and the reports of others, in relation to the country 
w^hich he visited. His narrative is enlivened by 
several traditions and anecdotes gathered in this 
manner, and characteristic of the country and the 
people, which, as they do not in any way concern 
his own fortunes, we forbear to notice. His conclu- 
sion, from his inquiry into the politics of the Bar- 
bary States, is to have nothing to do with either 
6 



82 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

party in the civil wars by which the country is dis- 
tracted, and which first drew his attention to its 
shores. The perfidious character of the natives, 
" their bloody murthers, rather than warre," only 
provoke his loathing ; and he returns with his 
Frenchman, Captain Merham, to the man-of-war, 
destined, in his own language, " to try some other 
conclusions at sea." 

It is not so certain, in going on board the ship of 
Merham a second time, that our adventurer pro- 
posed to take any decided step with him, or indeed 
contemplated anything more than a brief visit. 
His narrative speaks of the visit and invitation as 
one for the day only ; two or three other persons, 
not of the craft, being the guests also, and with 
similar invitations. But the welcome of the French- 
man Avas so warm, and his hospitality so grateful, 
that whether designedly on his part or not, tbey 
linger on board too late to return to the shore that 
night, and are constrained, not unwilling!}^ we fancy, 
to take their beds in the vessel. The evening was 
fair at first and pleasant, but by midnight such a 
storm arose as to compel our excellent Frenchman 
to slip his cables, and carry his guests with him to 
sea. We do not hear that ISmith ever complained of 
any baggage left behind him. Our Frenchman is 
compelled to run before the wind, and before the 
parties know where they well are, his ship is at the 
Canaries. This flight resolves itself into a cruise, 
and as the storm abated and the seas grew smooth, 
Merham amused himself and guests by capturing an 
occasional vessel laden with wine of Tenerilfe ; thus 
converting a mishap into a very profitable sort of 
exercise. In this pursuit, however, his eagerness 
carried him a thought too far, and pressing all sail to 
overhaul two strange vessels which had hove in 
sight, he suddenly finds that he has caught a Tartar, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 83 

in the shape of two sturdy Spanish men-of-war, far 
superior in force to his own. But this does not quell 
the spirit of our Frenchman. Merham, whom Smith 
calls " an old fox," " seeing himselfe in the lion's 
pawes," showed a clean pair of heels, but not so 
clean as to escape altogether the consequences of his 
temerity. His chase had been too eager to make 
escape easy, though he prided himself upon his 
vessel as a fast sailer. The action became unavoid- 
able, and was one of those fierce and bloody strug- 
gles of which naval history in all times affords us so 
many terrible instances. The Spaniards fell upon 
the Frenchman with a broadside, and succeeded, 
after a severe fight of an hour, in boarding him. 
The danger was imminent, and Merham's ship must 
have been carried or destroyed but for certain lucky 
cross-bar shots, and " divers bolts of iron made for 
that purpose," which at the fortunate moment 
drilled such a breach in one of the Spaniards as left 
her in a sinking condition. Of the consternation 
which ensued in the injured vessel the Frenchman 
availed himself so as to disengage his ship from the 
grapplings of the enemy, and to renew his efforts at 
escape. But the chase was hotly kept up by one of 
the Spaniards, and a running fight followed, Avhich 
lasted from noon till nigl^t. By this time the 
pursuing Spaniard was rejoined by'his consort, who 
had succeeded in repairing her breaches, and the 
two together continued the chase with pertinacious 
diligence all night. They succeeded at length in 
overhauling their enemy a second time, and bringing 
him again to action within musket shot. On this 
occasion the stately Don began the affair Avith un- 
necessary civility, promising the Frenchman fair 
quarters' if, without giving them farther trouble, he 
would surrender to the flag of Spain. But Merham 
had no surrender in him. He knew, as Smith tells 



84: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ns, " well how to use his ordnance," and his answer 
to this civil soliciting was made by his cannon. The 
action was thus renewed, and the assailants a second 
time succeeded in laying the chase aboard. Our 
Frenchman fought with desperation, but the over- 
whelming force of the Spaniards enabled them to 
cover his decks, and to rush aloft in numbers to 
unsling his mainsail. This he contrived to bring 
down so suddenly, while they were yet in the rig- 
ging, as to place them hors dti comhat ; while another 
party were blown off by the desperate Frenchman, 
with a part of the deck and the grating. These 
achievements, while they drove the Spaniards back 
to their own vessel, left that of Merham on fire. 
Drawing off to escape this danger, the Spaniards 
kept playing upon him, seeking his destruction 
rather than his capture, which the desperate valor 
of the Frenchman seemed to render impossible; — 
while on board the latter, to extinguish the flames 
gave sufficient occupation to all hands. While the 
danger lasted none could be spared for the scarcely 
less pressing business of the conflict. The flames 
were at length extinguished, and this done, Merham 
renewed the fight with the same spirit as before. 
It was in vain that his enemies proffered to parley 
with him — to grant him the best of terms, and admit 
him to fair quarters. The desperate Frenchman had 
but one answer, and that was through his cannon. 
And thus another day was spent, and half the fol- 
lowing night, when the fire of the enemy slackened 
and the distance widened between the combatants. 
The firm courage and reckless valor of the French- 
man saved him : for at dawn the Spaniards were no 
longer to be seen. This desperate action is not unlike 
that of the Serapis and the Bon Homme Richard. 
Merham must have been a warrior like Paul Jones ; 
and he probably found a worthy lieutenant in our ad- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 85 

venturer. Smith modestly forbears saying anything 
about his own deportment in the action. You V\'ould 
scarce suppose him indeed to have been present, but 
for his evident familiarity with all its details. He 
describes at no second-hand. His events are vividly 
told, as by one who saw them all, and knew their mo- 
tives and their consequences. His very phraseology 
has a sang-froid about it which seems to show, not 
only that he beheld, but that he enjoyed fully the 
whole terrible affair. From his known character 
there can be no doubt that he did so, and shared 
amply in all its dangers. He had always rejoiced in 
the excitements of war, and the unequal conflict 
invariably warmed his chivalry. Eeasoning from 
all that we know of his genius and resoUition, we 
need not question that these qualities largely sec- 
onded our Frenchman in the admirable and success- 
ful defense which enabled him to beat off and baffle 
his assailants. 



86 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



BOOK SECOND. 



CHAPTEE I. 

"We have now to change the scene in our eventful 
drama, and to show our hero, after all his perils, 
once more seated in safety within his native land. 
He returned to England some time in the year 1604. 
He was still a very young man to have undergone 
such vicissitudes and varieties of fortune. Few 
young men at twenty -five have ever lived through 
such a trying experience. Eut this experience had 
made a man of him indeed. His mind had ripened 
with his toil, his judgment had hecome matured in 
fields of danger, and in the life-conflict with a thou- 
sand necessities ; and without losing any portion of 
that energy of chara^cter, and enthusiasm of spirit 
and of temperament, which had forced him upon 
the paths of enterprise, and made the field of peril 
grateful to his impulses, he was now better prepared 
than ever to convert these admirable qualities of 
courage into useful and efficient agencies for the 
prosecution of great designs. 

It was at a season highly auspicious to the exer- 
cise of these endowments that he returned to his 
native country. The spirit of colonial enterprise 
which, at a previous period, had been excited be- 
yond the boundai'ies of reason and prosperity by 
the successful examples and discoveries of the For 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 87 

tuguese and Spaniards, and which numerous disasters 
had tended to discourage and subdue, had, under 
more favoring circumstances received a new im- 
pulse to exertion. The first effect upon the English 
people of the unfolding by Columbus of the pon- 
derous gates of the Atlantic, had been rather inju- 
rious than serviceable to the interests of maritime 
and colonial adventures ; and the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth was distinguished by hopes and passions, 
founded upon discovery in the new world, such as 
no exertions in the adventurer, and no resources in 
nature, could have possibly appeased or realized. 
It was, in the first place, a subject of mortification 
to the English that their sovereign had rejected the 
eminent services of Columbus ; and the growing in- 
terests of commerce, under the wise and powerful 
administration of Elizabeth, goaded in especial by 
their jealousy of the Spaniards, and further stimu- 
lated by the recent grand defeat of the " Invincible 
Armada," enabled them to see, in some degree, how 
vast had been this sacrifice. The commercial mind 
of England was not disposed to yield El Dorado en- 
tirely to the Spaniard, and this mind, succored by 
an intellect more daring and perhaps more influential 
than its own, was soon enabled to diffuse through- 
out the national heart an intense passion for dis- 
covery and colonization in America. The eager 
eyes of popular desire were opened upon a realm 
of equal loveliness and treasure, which cupidity and 
curiosity became equally anxious to explore.' The 
master spirits of the age surrendered themselves to 
this passion. The voice of the nation seconded the 
impulse, and the very difficulties which the jealous 
Spaniard contrived to throw in the way of other 
empires seeking a similar path with himself, con- 
tributed to confirm the wild impressions which had 
gone into all lands of his miraculous treasures in 



88 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

the new. Eomance took possession of the theme 
and dressed it in her richest habiliments. The san- 
guine gave their credence, and the sedate and doubt- 
ful knew not how to deny. The policy of many 
among the wise seemed to render denial injudicious, 
since, in the prosecution of a great work, the argu- 
ment to the convert must be such as his nature will 
most readily receive. And yet it is very doubtful 
if the very wisest among them did not acknowledge 
as probable the gorgeous fictions narrated of the 
new world, which the experience of the old had 
never yet found true. Sir Walter Kaleigh himself, 
a man of not less intellect than ambition, whose 
character, by the way, bold, sanguine and impulsive, 
martial in spirit and curious in research, very much 
resembled that of Smith, though with the advan- 
tages of far better training in youth, and more ap- 
proved associations in manhood ; he, too, was one 
of those who certainly deceived themselves quite as 
much as they deceived others, yielding a too willing 
faith to their own fancies. In his day and that of 
Queen Elizabeth, the vulgar mind everywhere in 
Europe was possessed of impressions in regard to 
America which were worthy only of the fairy em- 
pires of Aladdin ; and the popular histories of the 
new continent were better suited to the invention 
of a quick-witted sultana,* in danger of the bow- 
string, than the sober speculations of the sage and 
reverend gray-beards with whom they found such 
ready credence and respect. Seen through this 
happy medium it was the land equally of refuge and 
delight. To the boy-dreamer about Arcadia and 
the golden age, it offered all that imagination could 
conjecture and Astraea could supply. To the veteran, 
grown gray in stratagems and spoils, without hav- 

* Scheherazade, the sultana— see Introductory Chapter to 
the Arabian Nights' Entertainments. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. gg 

ing grown strong in their retention, it opened the 
most easy paths for the attainment of his selfish 
objects. Freedom from all restraipts of law, and 
conflict only with a people entirely put without its 
pale and protection, were considerations beyond 
price to the habitual rufiian, who, in the world itself, 
found nothing more precious than an oyster which 
he was permitted to open with his sword ; and 
England, to say nothing of the continent, was filled 
with " men in buckram " such as these. To the dis- 
banded soldiery of the Low Countries in particular, 
to which England had sent her full share of discon- 
tents and profligates — the prospect of conflict with 
the native savages in a region where gold had a 
vegetable period of birth and growth, and was to 
be had for the gathering, was rather more grateful 
as the medium for the acquisition of wealth than the 
wretched drudgery of the ordinary" tasks of industry. 
To the young and fanciful the same wild regions 
offered the romance of eternal forests, the beauty 
of strange landscapes, and the foreign charms of a 
race of dusky and confiding beauties, not to speak 
of that exquisite twilight picturesque, which ever 
paints the far-off and the foreign in the natural 
landscape. Others again, the enthusiasts in the world 
of contemplation, longed for the subdued j)leasures 
of a life passed in solitude — a passion, which is so 
frequently found, in youth, to possess for a season 
the hearts of those who are equally ambitious and 
energetic, and who seem in this way to find a neces- 
sary repose of the mind before it is bent and strained 
to its uttermost tension in aiming at objects which 
call for great decision and endeavor. To another 
class, religion came with her persuasions also ; and 
her arguments, urged in behalf of the heathen of 
the strange countries not yet admitted into the fold 
of Christ, afforded specious pretexts, by which 



90 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

avarice and ambition contrived to deceive their 
neighbors, and not unfrequently themselves. These 
various motives, commerce and cupidity, romance, 
ambition and religion, were still sufficiently influ- 
ential, in spite of numerous complete defeats, in en- 
terprises of the same description, to bring together 
many a motley band to whom the forests of America 
promised full satisfaction for all the desires of their 
hearts. To these may be added yet another class, 
of whom Walter Ealeigh himself and our own hero. 
Smith, may be mentioned as sufficient specimens, who 
loved adventure for its own sake, who never looked to 
the mere personal rewards, and not often or too 
closely to the consequences, and who were better 
pleased to be doing and achieving, even if suffering 
also, than in the acquisition of the spoils, or even the 
honors of the achievement. 

Smith's arrival in England was singularly oppor- 
tune, not only as it regarded his own employment, 
but in relation to the success of the experiment, now 
once more to be renewed, which had always met be- 
fore with failure. He brought to the work a degree 
of courage and experience, of skill and resource, 
which made him a person of mark wherever he ap- 
peared. He was not long in making himself known 
to those who took most interest in maritime adven- 
ture ; and indeed his reputation had in some meas- 
ure preceded him, and prepared the public mind to 
regard him as one particularly fitted for the exi- 
gencies of the time and its peculiar object. That 
object was scarcely of so vague and deceptive a 
character as it had been in the previous reign. The 
actual experience acquired by British mariners in 
the time of James the First, had furnished a greater 
body of facts, on the subject of foreign countries, to 
the nation, than it had possessed during the sway of 
Elizabeth. The defeat of the Armada was one of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 91 

the great events to which the English people owe 
their rapid progress upon the high seas. It taught 
them an increased confidence in their skill and prow- 
ess, the results of which were steadily increasing, 
under the exercise of their powers, and these powers 
were mainly exercised in the business of discovery 
in foreign lands. It may be well, for the better 
comprehension of our history, to glance briefly at 
the progress, in this particular, during the reign of 
Elizabeth. A brief space will suffice for this object. 
The commercial career of England may be said to 
have begun in the time of Henry the Seventh, in the 
maritime labors and discoveries of the Cabots. At 
that early period it was proposed to plant colonies 
in the new world. The reign of his successor, 
though hardly favorable to the commerce of his 
kingdom, was yet not wholly unmarked by events 
which showed how certainly mercantile adventure 
was determined to make itself felt among the great 
interests of the nation. The blood of the old North- 
men was too large a constituent of the stock to be 
satisfied with the progress upon the seas of other 
and rival nations, without being desirous of contend- 
ing with them upon an element which seems really 
to belong to the genues of the people. Yoyages of 
discovery were undertaken in the time of Henry 
YIII. ; and a spirit sufiiciently maritime was shown 
to awaken the special jealousy of the Spaniard. 
The statutes of Edward YI. continued to favor this 
rising and ambitious interest ; nor could the bigotry 
of Mary, who succeeded him — the creature, as she 
was, of a purely Spanish influence — suffice to check 
the excited and natural tendencies of the nation. 
The elevation of Elizabeth gave a new vigor to the 
efforts of her people in this, as in all other of the 
interests of the kingdom. Her successful resistance 
to Spain may be said to have placed England fairly 



92 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

afloat upon the high seas. Her ships penetrated at 
the same time the waters of the East and West, and 
were at the same moment in the rivers of Eussia, the 
bays of Newfoundland, and among the Spanish gal- 
leons in the harbors of Spanish America. Seeking 
a northwest passage, the possibility of effecting 
which had been asserted by Cabot, Frobisher, in a 
small vessel, made his way to the shores of Labrador ; 
and, by these brilliant illusions, " golden " all, first 
prompted Elizabeth to an exhibition of royal patron- 
age in an attempt to look for the precious metals in 
arctic abodes, at the very time Drake was gaining 
that glory which redeems his name from the charge 
of piracy by the circumnavigation of the globe. 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, the stepbrother of Ealeigh, 
shared his passion for discovery, and we may add 
his fortunes. With more moderate views of the re- 
sults of adventure, and more rigorous and reasonable 
aims, he obtained a liberal patent and put to sea in 
1579. But the event was failure and mortification. 
A second attempt was more unfortunate still, and 
the stout old mariner perished at sea. 

Ealeigh's experiments followed those of his step- 
brother, and were scarcely more successful. His 
vessels, under the Captains Amidas and Barlow, 
coasted the Carolinas in 1584, penetrated Ocracocke 
inlet, and formal possession, with the usual cere- 
monies, was taken of the country ; which, in honor 
of the " Virgin Queen," was called Virginia. On 
this occasion, however, no settlement was attempted. 
That was reserved for the ensuing year, when, under 
the same charter, a colony of one hundred and eight 
men was confided to Sir Ealph Lane. The settle- 
ment was made on the island of Eoanoke, and some 
fruitless explorations were made in the neighboring 
country. But a single year sufficed for the experi- 
ment, when the colonists abandoned their lonely 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 93 

hamlet and returned to England. Fifty men,* left 
by Sir Kichard Grenville, in 1586, in charge of the 
deserted settlement, were massacred in a little while ; 
their miserable remains alone being found in and 
about their ruined habitations, in warning to their 
successors. But Raleigh was not yet discouraged. 
A new colony was planted, and this time the solitude 
and sterility of the wilderness were cheered, in the 
eyes of our Englishmen, by the presence of woman. 
But this did not avail. The history of the colony 
is a blank. Of its fate we know nothing. But a 
single authentic fact remains to us ; namely, that 
during its brief existence of little more than'^a year, 
one female child was born in the wilderness to the 
foreign settlers, and received the name of Yirginia, 
after the European name of the country. 

Ealeigh was a ruined man. He could no longer 
pursue his enterprises on the strength of his own 
resources ; but still resolute in his experiments, he 
endeavored to do so by means of companies. Un- 
happily for himself and his cause, his personal at- 
tempts were all made in other latitudes. Had he 
himself but led his colonists to Yirginia, instead of 
wasting himself in fruitless researches after mines 
in Guiana, his own fate and that of the colonies in 
I^orth America might have been far more fortunate. 
Hi-s enterprises seem really to have failed through 
the miserable incompetency, the want of moderation, 
prudence, skill or courage, among his agents. But 
his spirit survived himself ! 

This disastrous history w^onderfully tended to 
subdue the eagerness of English adventure in colo- 
nizing North America. As John Brierton, one of 
the adventurers of a later day, expresses it, " all 
hopes of Yirginia thus abandoned, it lay dead and 

* Bancroft says fifteen ; Smith and others fifty. The latter 
seems the more probable number. 



94 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

obscured from 1590 till this year 1602." Then it 
was that Bartholomew Gosnold made his way across 
the Atlantic, and, contenting himself with a cargo 
of sassafras, returned to England after an absence 
of four months. This voyage renewed the subject 
in men's minds of Virginia colonization. A second 
expedition, consisting of two small vessels, was sent 
out by private adventurers, under Martin Pring — 
only a few days after the death of Elizabeth — and 
this voyage was also comparatively successful, met 
with no disaster, but made no settlement. Other 
expeditions followed. The way, still an indirect one 
(for the direct passage was very gradually attained) 
became at length fairly opened, the pathway 
familiar, and moderate successes stimulated anew 
the passion for maritime adventure, which had been 
sickened so completely by disaster, and by the fail- 
ure of all its brilliant anticipations. 

Such was the condition of English discovery in 
America, and such the condition of the popular mind 
in England, when Smith reached his native country 
from abroad. We are not told where his French 
cruiser set him down, nor in what manner he passed 
from the continent of Europe to Great Britain ; but 
there we find him somewhere in 1604, already busy 
in urging upon the public the claims of Virginia to 
colonization, and linking his fortunes Avith those of 
Bartholomew Gosnold, Edward Maria Wingfield, 
Eobert Hunt and others. An ample patent was 
obtained, but nothing more, from James the First, 
with leave to "deduce a colony into Virginia." 
Circumstances were in favor of the experiment. 
The time for American colonization had arrived. 
The route across the Atlantic was comparatively 
familiar, and the wild and wondrous character of 
the enterprise having been taken from it in some 
degree by the absolute facts of which the public 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 95 

were in possession, secured for it the support of a 
more steady and solid, though a less imposing coun- 
tenance. The edge of romance had been somewhat 
taken from the appetite of adventure, and though 
the precious metals were still the objects of insane 
search and speculation, and though the accounts 
were still extremely exaggerated in all the descrip- 
tions of Virginia, yet there was no longer that wild 
fancy which taught that the gold was to be had for 
the gathering, and all was to be smiles, and sun- 
shine, and smooth sailing in the experiment. There 
was work to be done, and dangers were to be met, 
and toils endured ; and hence the importance of a 
man like Smith, to whom these were not only familiar 
but grateful. It required the active parties more 
than a year of zealous service in England before 
they could move " certain of the nobility, gentry 
and marchantes " to entertain their schemes ; in 
other words, furnish the necessary funds for their 
prosecution— Gosnold, AYingfield, 'Hunt, Smith and 
others, being thought to have risked quite enough 
w^hen they periled their lives upon the adventure. 
The letters patent, bearing date April 10th, 1G06, 
were issued to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, 
Eichard Hackluyt and their associates. This, the 
first charter under which the English succeeded in 
planting a colony in America, was one which was 
designed to establish a mercantile corporation. It 
allotted a sufficiently ample territory, extending on 
the sea-coast of Anierica from the thirty-fourth to 
the forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, together 
with all islands within a hundred miles of their 
shores. This was to be divided between two rival 
companies, — one of which, however — that in which 
Smith was a leader^ — alone succeeded, and to this 
alone will our attention be directed. The territory 
actually yielded by the charter to the one company, 



96 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

occupied exclusively " the regions from thirty-four 
to thirty-eight degrees of North latitude ; that is, 
from Cape Fear to the southern limit of Maryland." 
The territory was ample, but the charter was one 
of the narrowest limitations. The selfish monarch 
granted nothing but a desert waste of forest, with 
the privilege of peopling and subduing it, reserving 
to himself all authority. He framed the laws, con- 
trolled the appointments, and looked largely to the 
future revenues. With that morbid jealousy of 
his sovereign prerogative, which rendered him 
tyrannical, when nature perhaps only designed that 
he should be ridiculous, he tenaciously took to him- 
self the labor of devising the whole scheme of the 
colonial government; and contrived — very happily 
as he thought, but very unroyally as we may be 
permitted to think, to say nothing of the blindness 
and peevishness of the whole proceeding — to with- 
hold from the emigrants themselves every elective 
franchise, to deny them every attribute of self-govern- 
ment. " They were subjected," to employ the lan- 
guage of a modern historian,* " to the ordinances of 
a commercial corporation, of which they could not 
be members ; to the dominion of a domestic council, 
in appointing which they had no voice ; to the con- 
trol of a superior council in England, Avhich had no 
sympathies with their rights ; and, finally, to the 
arbitary legislation of their sovereign." This w^as 
only so much rare fooling, by which the feeble king 
endangered the power, in the assertion of which his 
morbid jealousy kept him in continual and feverish 
apprehension. The transmission of this miserable 
quality of jealousy to his unhappy descendants, 
without his owm accompanying love of approbation, 
was the true secret of all that was vile and wretched 
in their subsequent career and fate. 
* Bancroft. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 97 

But the folly of James did not end here. The 
names of governor and council, and his instructions 
how they should proceed, were all carefully sealed 
up and confided to them in a strong box, not to be 
opened till after their arrival in V irginia. They 
were consequently under no authority until that 
period, and to this circumstance some of the misfor- 
tunes which marked their voyage may be ascribed. 
Their squadron consisted of three small vessels, the 
largest not exceeding one hundred tons burden ; 
the whole being under the command of Captain 
Christopher Newport, an experienced mariner. The 
colonists were but one hundred and five in number, 
of whom we learn that forty -eight were gentlemen^ 
twelve were laborers, four were carpenters, one was 
a blacksmith, one a bricklayer, one a tailor, one a 
mason, one a barber, one a drummer, hut one a sailor, 
two were chirurgeons, and there were four boys. 
The exceeding disproportion between the gentlemen 
and the mechanics and laborers reminds us irresist- 
ibly of the limited allowance of bread to sack in 
the domestic economy of Fal staff. Why gentle- 
men should be wanted in a wilderness would some- 
what puzzle the philosopher ; and of those who went 
on this expedition we have a sufficient glimpse, 
contained in a single passage of the narrative of 
William Simons, reported by Smith, who describes 
"some few of the greatest ranke amongst us as 
little better than atheists.'* 



98 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Thus motley in the composition of their members, 
the colonists set sail from Blackwall,on the 19th clay 
of December, 16u6 — a little more than one hundred 
years after the discovery of the continent by Cabot. 
The commencement of their vovcige was inauspi- 
cious, and its progress was unhapp\^ They were 
not suffered for six wrecks after anchor had been 
weighed, by reason of contrary winds, to lose sight 
of the English coast. In this time our adventurers 
employed themselves in the most scandalous dissen- 
sions, which arose at length to such a height of vio- 
lence as to task all the best efforts of the more judi- 
cious among them to maintain the peace. Mr. 
ITimt, the preacher, a mikl and sensible person, who 
had actively participated with Smith, Gosnold, and 
Wingfield, in originating the adventure, now ap- 
proved himself Avorthy of the Christian ministry- in tne 
activity wliich he displayed in restoring harmony, or 
at least the appearance of harmony, among these 
ungenial spirits. But it was an appearance only, to 
be thrown aside upon the first new provocation, 
however slight. The substance of peace was wholly 
wanting to the company. The elements among 
them were of too mixed and conflicting character; 
and these elements, from the silly commands of 
the king, that their instructions " should not be 
opened until they had reached Yirginia, by leaving 
theni without any recognized authority, left them 
free to the indulgence of all their capricious moods 
and impulses. What share Smith had in these 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 99 

troubles and controversies does not appear. "We are 
left only to conjecture from what we know of his 
claims and character, and from what is subsequently 
revealed to us of his treatment, that the provocation 
to their violence, in all probabilit}^, came from him. 
That he was the true man of the expedition was 
probably very soon apparent to all parties. That he 
was not the most beloved on this account, is a fair 
presumption, from what we know of the insolence, 
the insufferable pride and vanity of many of his 
companions. The account from which we draw our 
own, at this point of the narrative, is that of William 
Simons, " Doctour of Divinitie," who was not of the 
voyage, but who is very likely to have procured his 
intelligence from Hunt. Simons distinctly ascribes 
this dissension to envy of, and hostility to Smith, on 
the part of those " godlesse foes, whose disasterous 
designes (could they have prevailed) had even then 
overthrowne the businesse." The history is a com- 
mon one, and the motive insisted upon is, unhappily, 
in the weak and vicious state of our depraved hu- 
manity, natural enough. The world-man cordially 
hates the God-man, and will destroy him if he can ; 
and the conflict, for life, and for all lives, is inevita- 
ble between them. We can readily conceive how 
such a man, so taught by experience and all sorts of 
fortune, should, in their w^retched wind-bound and 
storm-impeded progress to the Canaries, have given 
provocation in a thousand ways, by his very address 
and energy and natural command of character, to 
the herd of conceited gentlemen sent out to seek 
their fortunes, by whom he found himself sur- 
rounded. Easy for such a man, among such men, 
to stir up the acrid humors, to provoke bile, and 
bitterness, and wrath. His unquestionable genius, 
his notorious experience, his noble aspect, his ready 
decision, these in all probability acquired him a 

L.DfC. 



100 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

command during the voyage, in place of the sealed 
authority of King James, to which a peevish vanity 
would not always be ready to submit. The storm 
which Preacher Hunt had partially quieted, burst 
forth with new violence when thelittle fleet of J^ew- 
port reached the Canaries. Here, having matured 
their schemes, the malcontents seized upon the per- 
son of our adventurer and committed him to close 
custody, under charges equally ridiculous and scan- 
dalous, of sedition and treason to the crown — " some 
of the chiefe (envying his repute) who fained he in- 
tended to usurpe the Government, murther the 
Council, and make himselfe King;" — a truculent 
conspirator to be sure — and "that his confedrats, 
were dispersed in all the three ships, and that divers 
of his confederals that revealed it would affirme it." 
Smith seems to have submitted patiently, waiting 
events, economizing his strength and courage, wast- 
ing nothing in vain struggles, vexing nobody with 
vain complaint — but manfully biding his time, and 
looking calmly to the coming trial. For thirteen 
weeks such was his condition. Meanwhile, our 
little fleet proceeded to the West India islands. It 
had pursued, as we see, the old circuitous route, — 
the path which the Genoese had first opened with 
his prows. At Dominica they took in water, carried 
on a smart trade with the " salvages," and enjoyed 
a refreshing respite of three weeks on shore ; in 
which it was very possible thatour prisoner was not 
permitted to share. Fortunately, he is one who has 
ably learned the great lesson of endurance. He 
waits in his chains with what philosophy he may, 
while the dominant party regale themselves among 
the soft airs and the delicious fruits and flowers of 
the tropics. If he is to be sovereign in Yirginia he 
can very well afford to wait. 
At length the voyage is resumed, and our little 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 101 

fleet steered northward, searching for the island of 
Koanoke. Three days had they passed their reckon- 
ing, yet found no land. The discontents increased, 
and Captain Katcliffe, of one of the vessels, was 
urgent with them to abandon the whole expedition 
and return again to England. Such was the infirm- 
ity of purpose, the feebleness of will, and utter 
w^orthlessness of resolve among the very " chiefes " 
who were most hostile to our adventurer. Luckil}^ 
while yet they debated, a violent storm which com- 
pelled them to hull it all night under bare poles, drove 
them towards the desired coasts, which they made 
on the 26th of April, 1607. The Bay of Chesapeake, 
a word signifying in the Indian dialect ^' mother of 
waters," — a name admirably applied — received the 
weary and exhausted wayfarers. To the first land 
which they descried they gave the name of Cape 
Henry, to the opposite Cape that of Charles ; and the 
point of land which breasted the pleasant harborage 
in which they dropped their anchors, they called 
" Comfort," in token of the grateful emotions with 
which its appearance had filled their bosoms. The 
beauty of the scene around them sank sensibly into 
their hearts, softening their moods, and elevating all 
their fancies. The green plains, with their great trees 
and wanton foliage, dippmg into the very lips of the 
ocean, now just beginning to flush and brighten in the 
embrace of spring, were doubly beautiful in the eyes 
of those so long saddened with only the aspect of the 
sea. The world of wood and waste, green and fresh, 
which spread away with hill and dale, crowned with 
the profuse luxuriance of the unbroken forest, seemed 
to them to embrace a very paradise, in which they 
might well delight to plant their homesteads, fully 
assured that it was under the especial eye of heaven. 
Smith, in his pleasure at the prospect, speaks fully 
for the rest. " Within, " say he," is a country that may 



102 LI^ OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

have the prerogative over the most pleasant places 
knowne." * * * " Heaven and earth never agreed 
better to frame a place for man's habitation, were it 
fully manured and inhabited by industrious people. 
Here are raountaines, hills, plaines, valleyes, rivers, 
and brookes, all running most pleasantly into a faire 
bay, compassed, but for the mouth, with fruitfull 
and delightsome land." 

The land which they had discovered had never 
been seen by any of them before. Their destination 
had been the island of Koanoke, distinguished by 
previous attempts at colonization. The aspect of the 
region which rose up around them, in all themagnifi. 
cence of its primeval state, in its unpruned luxuri- 
ance and beauty, seem.ed to promise full satisfaction 
for all their desires ; and, availing themselves of 
the discretion which had been allowed them, they 
preferred rather to try the experiment of a colony in 
this attractive country, than to continue their search 
after a spot which was really only known to them by 
disaster. A party of thirty of them went ashore at 
Cape Henry to " recreate themselves," and received 
an unexpected lesson of caution — which, however, 
did not avail them to any great extent — in conse- 
quence of the assault of five Indians, who crept 
upon them from the hills, and though beaten off 
by the terrors of their muskets, wounded two of 
the party very severely with their arrows. They 
were thus warned that, if the country was beau- 
tiful, its inhabitants were brave — a lesson too 
frequently taught by them in long succeeding 
conflicts to be easily forgotten by those whose 
fortune it is to possess the pleasant places of their 
inheritance. 

Virginia being now reached, it may be well to see 
in what manner the British Solomon proposes that 
the new colony shall be governed. The sealed box 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 103 

of their instructions was accordingly opened on the 
night of their arrival, and the documents were spread 
before the colonists. By these it was discovered 
that the council was to consist of Edward Maria 
Wingrfield, Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smithy Chris- 
topher Newjport^ John Radcliffe, John Martin^ and 
George Kendall. These were to serve for one year, 
and to elect their president from among themselves. 
This is all that concerns us to know of these in- 
structions, and the way that they were disposed of. 
It does not appear that Smith was present at the 
opening of the seals. He was still in bonds ; 
still waiting with patience for the coming of his 
hour. 

To select a proper spot for a settlement, our colo- 
nists were employed seventeen days. During this 
period they were busy in the work of exploration. 
The treasures of the earth and of the deep were 
searched for with industry. In the latter they 
groped for 03^sters, which lay in places as " thick 
as stones," and the former they found covered with 
" flowers of divers kinds and colors," and " goodly 
trees, cedars, cypress, and other kinds," goodly as 
ever seen by British voyager before and elsewhere. 
Strawberries, too, refreshed their e^^es and lips, 
" fine and beautiful," *' four times bigger and better 
than ours in England." A brave world at first be- 
ginning for our discontents. " Pleasant springs is- 
sue from the mountains," " the goodliest cornfields 
ever seen in any countr}^," salute their eyes, and give 
ample guarantee against famine ; and they are re- 
freshed by the fumes of tobacco from the pipes of 
savages, who give them a more friendh^ welcome 
than that which they met from, the five creeping 
scoundrels at Cape Henry. These invite them to 
their towns of Kecoughtan and Rappahannock, 
spread their mats for them when they come, feed 



104 C^IFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

them with hominy when they hunger, and teach 
them to smoke a pipe after the repast. " As goodly 
men " as our Europeans " had ever seen," are these 
savages, no ways savage, gentle, quite civil indeed ; 
their weroicance, or chief, coming at their head to 
meet the strangers, playing on a flute made of a reed, 
with a crown of deer's hair, colored red, in fashion 
of a rose, fastened about his knot of hair, and a great 
plate of copper on the other side of his head, with 
two long feathers in seeming of a pair of horns placed 
in the midst of his crown. Scarcely a Christian cos- 
tume in the eyes of Christians, but not amiss in the 
thinking of our Virginians. As we are to have much 
future commerce with this people it may be as well to 
continue this description, which comes to us from the 
pen of George Percy, a brother of the Earl of North- 
umberland, a volunteer in the expedition, who has 
given us a very interesting narrative to be found in 
Purchas. 

"His body (that of the Werowance) was painted 
all with crimson, with a chain of beads about his 
neck ; his face painted blue, besprinkled with silver 
ore, as we thought ; his ears all behung with brace- 
lets of pearl, and in either ear a bird's claw through 
it, beset with fine copper or gold. He entertained 
us in so modest a proud fashion, as though he had 
been a prince of civil government : " — as we suspect 
he was, Mr. Percy, after the fashion of his country. 
The Indians were armed " with bows and arrows in 
a most warlike manner, with the swords at their 
backs beset with sharp stones and pieces of iron, 
able to cleave a man in sunder." 

Penetrating a spacious river, which the Indians 
called Powhatan, after their king, but which our no 
less loyal colonists subdued into the James, in honor 
of him from whom they had received so liberal a 
charter, and such admirable counsels, — the little 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 105 

fleet of IN'ewport ascended for a space of forty miles 
from its mouth. Here they fastened their vessels, 
in six fathoms of water, to trees growing upon 
the shore, and, landing upon a peninsula on the 
north side of the river, they lixed upon it as the 
site of their future settlement. " A verie fit place," 
says Smith, " for the erecting of a great citie : " 
though it seems that there was some difference of 
opinion among the captains even then upon this 
subject ; and subsequent experience seems to have 
proved the propriety of the doubt. But here, never- 
theless, the majority so willing it, on the 13th day of 
May, 1607, the ax was buried in the trees, and the 
firsl shafts w^ere hewn out for the foundation of 
the forest city of the Eoyal James, — henceforward 
to be called JamestoAvn. But the foundation of 
the city was a small and trivial event to that of the 
great nation which has yet grown from this small 
beginning: and he whose eye beholds now upon 
this memorable but neglected spot no trophy more 
significant than the rents of ruin in the arches of 
a single tower overgrown with ivy, and the rank 
forest growth which denotes the mound where 
sleep the bones of the early settlers, will scarcely be 
persuaded that he beholds the obscure nest and 
birthplace, as lowly as that of the sea-fowl which 
leaves her eggs along the shore, of the great nation 
whose wing now spreads, or is fast spreading, over 
the whole vast continent of ISTorth America. Such 
is, nevertheless, the simple and the startling truth ! 
One hundred and ten years have elapsed from the 
discovery of the country by Sebastian Cabot, and 
twenty-two since Ealeigh first attempted unsuccess- 
fully its colonization. From this memorable move, 
ment the tree takes root, in the future shade of 
which a mighty people are to find shelter, and in 
the fruits of which a thousand generations are to 



106 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

gather strength and sustenance. Yerily, we may 
not look upon that ruin of a town, that low and 
lonely remnant of our royal hamlet, on the north 
side of the river Powhatan, with unconcern and in- 
difference I 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. lOT 



CHAPTER III. 

The site of their future habitations chosen, the 
first duty of our council Avas to appoint a President. 
Their choice fell upon Mr. Wiugfield, by whom the 
members of the council were sworn to the perform- 
ance of their duties. From this privilege Smith 
was especially excluded ; the president declaring 
his reasons for the exclusion in a speech, which we 
may easily suppose embodied the several charges 
which had been made against him, of treason and 
sedition. We can readily understand the propriety, 
nay, the absolute necessity of excluding from a seat 
in the government, an individual who stood under 
such imputations ; and though the exclusion was in 
direct disobedience of that authority under which 
they acted as a council, yet we are of opinion that 
it is a vital constituent of every social or political 
body to be able to determine who shall properly 
appear among them. It certainly does not seem an 
injustice — assuming that the members of the council 
are themselves free from improper agency in the 
matter — that, while such charges are pending over 
the head of an associate, they should refuse to grant 
him an exercise of power which might contribute 
to the promotion of the dangerous designs which he 
is supposed to meditate. And we are bound to 
believe, until the issue is known, that the council 
consists of honest men, who are only solicitous of 
what is right. At all events. Smith makes no com- 
plaint. You hear no murmurs from his lips. He 
IS cool and resolute, patient as strong men generally 



108 LI^E OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

are, not anxious about the result, pretty well as- 
sured, indeed, what it must be. He knows the per- 
sons with whom he has to deal ; has sounded their 
depths already, and is familiar with all their shal- 
lows. What IS more, he knows himself — his inno- 
cence and his resources equally ; and steadily main- 
taining his temper and his calmness, he fortifies 
himself in the daily increasing confidence and atfec- 
tions of those whose morbid vanities are not morti- 
fied by his evident superiority of character. 

But though his services are rejected from the 
council-seat, they are not to be slighted when the 
toils and perils of the held are to be undertaken. 
The colony is quite too feeble to forego the vigor 
of any able-bodied man, and as soon as the work be- 
gins we find our adventurer busy with the rest in 
providing for the security and comfort of the settle- 
ment. Trees are to be felled, forts to be raised, 
wigwams built, and clapboards are to be split for 
freighting the returning vessels — our patrons at 
home requiring as rapid return for the outlay as 
possible. Each man is assigned a labor suited to 
his capacities ; and while some are engaged upon the 
tents and cabins, some in the forest hewing trees and 
getting clapboards, others are weaving bushes into a 
shelter for their homesteads, and others are laying 
out gardens, and are preparing gins, snares, and 
nets for the taking of game and fish. In any of 
these labors we ma\^ be sure that Smith would hold 
his hand with the best. But he is required for other 
toils ; and as soon as things begin to be tolerably 
secure and comfortable in the settlement, he is 
despatched with Captain Newport and twenty others 
on a voyage of exploration up the river of Powhatan. 
He offers no objection to this service, though noth- 
ing is said of his trial, and he is still denied the 
place in council which his sovereign has assigned 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 109 

him. But Smith is superior to his enemies. He 
entertains no sulks, has no petty revenges, but con- 
scientiously having the good of the colony at heart, 
cheerfully goes upon the duty which is assigned 
hira. They ascend the river to the hamlet of Pow- 
hatan himself, the great chief of the country, who 
dwelt near the falls, and just below the present site of 
Kichmond. This prince is described as a " tall, well- 
proportioned man, with stern countenance, a head 
somewhat gray, his beard quite thin and insignifi- 
cant, his limbs straight, his person erect, of an able 
and hardy frame, equal to any labor, and at the 
time of making the acquaintance of the English, 
near sixty years of ag:e." He is the Emperor of all 
the country surrounding Jamestown for a space of 
sixty miles — is supposed, out of a population of six or 
eight thousand, to be able to bring from fifteen hun- 
dred to two thousand warriors into the field. Dwells 
in some state at his royal hamlet of Powhatan, but 
has numerous residences ; is ordinarily attended by 
a body guard of forty or fifty of the tallest men in 
his country ; and a strict railitarj^ discipline envi- 
rons his dwelling-place Avith guards day and night, 
who regularly relieve each other, and who neglect 
or slumber in their watches at peril of a bastinado, 
not unlike that of the Turkish in its severity. Like 
the Turk, he has his Hareem, his religion offering no 
limit to his appetite. "When weary of his women, he 
bestows them upon his favorites. His power seems 
to have been a pure despotism ; though it appears 
that under particular circumstances his subjects are 
permitted the rare privilege of grumbling. They 
exercise this privilege when Smith and l^^ewport 
visit the emperor at his village. They resent the 
intrusion of the strangers ; but Powhatan v,- ith bet- 
ter policy, quiets their apprehensions while seeking 
to disguise his own. " They are harmless — they 



110 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

want nothing but a little land." A little land! 
The poor savages little know how nearly allied to a 
land's safety and their own is the knowledge of its 
value. Powhatan treated the English with a lofty 
courtesy. He was no common man among his 
tribe. A born sovereign, he extended his domains 
by conquest, and absorbed the conquered people 
among his own. He was of an ambitious and fear- 
less nature, but rendered cautious by the usual train- 
ing of the savage. An object of fear and awe 
among his subjects, the presence of the whites, 
among whom he evidently inspired no such senti- 
ments, was ungracious to his eyes ; but with the 
sagacious instincts of a strong mind, he saw at a 
glance that he had to deal with a superior race, and 
the weapon Avhich he proposed to employ against 
them was one the use of which was familiar to his 
genius — treachery. 

Nobody could have been treated with more kind- 
ness and courtesy than were Smith and Newport b}^ 
our Indian Emperor. Indeed the entertainment 
which marked their progress among the Indians was 
one of the warmest hospitality. They were every- 
where received Avith dancing and feasting. The 
food spread before them consisted of bread and fish, 
strawberries, mulberries, etc. ; in return for which 
the Indians received the most precious baubles in 
the shape of bells, beads, pins, needles, and looking- 
glasses, which made them the happiest of mortals 
for the time. Powhatan himself furnished them 
with a guide to explore the river, receiving a warrior 
as a hostage '' in pawn " for the Indian. In this 
progress Smith exhibits his customary acuteness of 
remark, and his vigilance of examination into all 
that met his eyes. He has left us a considerable 
body of facts, collected on this and subsequent voy- 
ages, illustrative of the manners and habits of the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SmTH. HI 

Indians ; their costume, their religion, their super- 
stitions, their modes of going to war, and all the 
peculiarities in short which distinguish their condi- 
tion, and all the facts or traditions which could 
illustrate their history. These materials, to this day, 
furnish the ample storehouse for the student seeking 
a knowledge of the condition of the aborigines of Vir- 
ginia and the surrounding countries at the period of 
the English settlement. 

Having pursued their voyage of discovery until 
the river ceased to be penetrable by their prows, 
our voyagers returned to Jamestown — their return 
someAvhat hurried by something suspicious in the 
demeanor of certain of the Indians on their route. 
It may be that Smith and Newport were rendered 
farther doubtful by the evident incompetency of the 
president, Wingfield. This man, who is described 
as a " grovelling merchant of the "West of England,'' 
seems to have been filled with an insane or idiotic 
jealousy of his own people, and would not only per- 
mit of no martial exercise or display among them, 
but actually arrested their labor in the erection of 
the necessary forts for the safety of the colony, so 
that of this work nothing was done, but what was 
achieved, almost in his despite, by the extraordinary 
diligence of one of the captains. A rude fortifica- 
tion in the shape of a half moon, consisting only of 
the boughs of trees heaped together, offered the only 
physical obstacle to the savages, who it appears 
were suffered to come and go at pleasure, their 
pacific behavior entirely disarming the English of 
their caution. The result was to be expected. The 
colonists were suddenly surprised by a force of four 
hundred Indians, and but for the timely aid afforded 
by the fire from the shipping they would have been 
cut off at a blow. Scattered about at their different 
occupations, some in the woods, some at their gar* 



112 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

dens, and all unprepared — their very weapons not 
convenient to their hands — seventeen of them were 
Avounded at the first onset, and one boy was slain. 
A cross-bar shot from the cannon of the shipping, 
rending the limbs from the trees above the heads 
of the Indians, luckily astounded them with a dan- 
ger of unknown character, and dispersed them 
for the time, affording the English an opportunity 
to place themselves under cover, and prepare for 
their defense. The members of the council were 
among the sufferers. Most of them were hurt, and 
the president, Wingfield, was now better persuaded 
to risk something at the hands of his own people, in 
order to make the settlement secure against the 
open enemy. Our chronicles afford us no light on 
the subject of his apprehensions. It is not said why 
this overweening jealousy of one another was en- 
tertained among the colonists. The fear seems to 
have mainly lurked among the members of the 
council, and Ave are left to conjecture entirely as 
regards its origin. We have but a single clue to a 
mystery Avhich seems so difficult of solution ; and 
this occurs to us in the case of Smith. That he was 
a man of desperate valor, was well known to his 
associates ; that he was a favorite, calculated equally 
to lead and to persuade among the common people, 
was sufficiently apparent. It had been found neces- 
sary to the success of the settlement that he should 
be suffered to leave his prison and go forth upon his 
duties with the rest. Was it the guilty conscious- 
ness of the wrong which they had done him, that 
made them dread to place weapons in the hands of 
his followers and friends — that Avould " admit no 
exercise at armes," — and even arrested the progress to 
completion of the very fortress which Avas meant as 
a cover against the common enemy, lest, in a passion- 
ate mood and in a favorable moment, he should riso 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 113 

sudden!}^, and take vengeance for his wrongs. In 
all probability this wretched apprehension was the 
true secret of the insane jealousy and weakness of 
the President. 

The fort was now palisadoed, the ordnance 
mounted, the men duly armed and exercised ; and it 
appears not a moment too soon. The first alarm at 
the discharge of the ordnance being over, the sav- 
ages came back to the assault, and their attacks 
were frequent. They watched the progress of the 
colonists with a degree of hostility that never suf- 
fered an opportunit}^ of doing mischief to escape 
them. They ambushed the forest paths; and the 
keen eye, and nimble foot, and deadly arrow of the 
savage, made it a death-peril for the colonists who 
straggled off without protection from the garrison. 
"What toyle we had, with so small a power, to 
guard our workmen a dayes, watch all night, resist 
our enemies, and effect our businesse, — to relade the 
ships, cut downe trees, and prepare the ground to 
plante our corne," — may be readily conjectured. 
But the ships were at length laden ; and now that 
they were ready to depart, our President gave 
Captain Smith a kindly intimation that he should 
depart with them for England. The council was 
pleased benignantly to refer him for censure to the 
council in England under general charges, rather 
than, by trying him themselves, with the proofs in 
their possession, endanger his life, destroy his repu- 
tation, and make his good name odious to the world. 

This was cunningly devised. But they were yet 
to know the man with whom they had to deal. It 
was because he valued his good name and his reputa- 
tion, rather than his life, that he scorned their pre- 
tended indulgence, defied them to the proof of his 
guilt, and demanded his trial on the spot. And now 
it was, that his patience, his manly bearing, his 

a 



114: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

good conduct, courage, and character, while in bonds 
and under accusation, produced their full effects. 
He had grown strong in all opinions. His innocence 
and the malice of his foes had made themselves ap- 
parent to the whole company in the thirteen weeks 
of his confinement, and the six subsequent weeks in 
which he had enjoyed comparative liberty. The 
council did not dare*^ refuse him the trial which he 
demanded, and the result was a triumphant acquittal. 
It was something more than an acquittal. It was 
redress and indemnity. He convicted his enemies 
of their malice ; the persons whom they had endeav- 
ored to suborn against him confessing the facts, 
and accusing the accusers of their subornation. So 
utterly disproved were the charges which were 
urged against him, and so notoriously malicious, that 
he was acquitted by acclamation ; and the Presi- 
dent, in whom they originated, was condemned to 
pay two hundred pounds damages — a sum which 
Smith at once applied to the necessities of the colony. 
His magnanimity was not to be outdone by their 
justice. His seat in council was withheld no longer ; 
and this occasion was seized upon by the worthy 
preacher, Mr. Hunt, with " good doctrine and ex- 
hortation," to appease this and other animosities, 
which had sprung up among his flock. On the en- 
suing Sabbath they all partook of the communion, 
in confirmation of the sincerity and Christian char- 
acter of their reconciliation. Peace was formally 
made the next day with the Indians ; and leaving 
the colony, consisting of one hundred and four per- 
sons, under these pleasant auspices, Newport sailed 
on the 15th of June for England, promising in 
twenty weeks to return with fresh supplies. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 115 



CHAPTEK lY. 

The pleasant auspices under which I^ewport left 
the colony did not long continue. The colonists 
began to suffer from the oppressive heats of sum- 
mer. They were strangers to the climate, and en- 
gaged in labors for which no previous training had 
prepared them. Their food was bad, consisting of 
wheat and barley, which, having been kept for six 
months in the hot hold of a ship, was now rather 
bran than corn, and contained quite as many worms 
and insects as grains ! While the vessels remained, 
the evil had not been so severely felt. They enjoyed 
a daily allowance of ship's-biscuit, for which they 
paid the sailors in ^' money, saxef ras, furres, or love^ 
Their departure cut off this suppl}^. The ships had 
been the taverns of our colonists. With them went 
hotel, and brewhouse, and bakery. "Had we beene 
as free from all sinnes as gluttony and drunken- 
nesse," says our narrative,* with a sad enough sort 
of humor, " we might have been canonized for 
saints." The common kettle was all that remained 
to them, and even of this the individual allow- 
ance was inadequate. Half a pint of wheat and 
as much barley, was as much as the President 

* Chap. II. of third Book of Smith's Virginia, and evidently 
in great part from the pen of Smith himself, though signed, 
" written by Thomas Studley, the first cape merchant in Vir- 
ginia, Robert Fenton, Edivard Harrington, and J. S." Smith 
(I. S.) probably wrote, and the others signed with him as 
witnesses. 



116 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

allowed per day for each. To himself he was 
much more indulgent. He engrossed for his pri- 
vate use, the ^' oatmeale, sacke, oyle, aqua vitm, beefe, 
egges, or what not," liberally forbearing, however, 
to touch the contents of the common kettle. " Our 
drinke was water," says one melancholy humorist, 
"our lodgings castles in the ayre." Such diet and 
lodgings, coupled with severe labors, constant and 
diligent watch, in the oppressive summer climate of 
that region, were fatal to European health and 
strength. In a short time after the departure of 
the ships, so extreme Avas the suffering that scarcely 
ten men of the hundred were able to stand. Gosnold 
died ; Smith, Martin, and Radcliffe were all danger- 
ously sick, and so were most of the soldiers. Fifty 
of them vrere buried, and those who survived were 
in danger of starvation. Their provisions, worthless 
as they had become, were soon consumed ; and from 
June until September they lived only upon sea-crabs 
and sturgeon. Very good living, too, it will be said, 
for famishing men ;'but these they had to snare and 
take for themselves, almost too feeble, from long 
sickness, for toils so moderate. But the sea-crabs 
and sturgeon finally disappeared from the waters, 
and the terrors of famine returned upon them. At 
this very time our wretched colonists had reason to 
apprehend an inroad from the Indians, who during 
the midsummer had given them a little respite. Even 
while they suffered from this cruel condition and 
melancholV prospect, the selfish wretch to Avhom 
they had confided the Presidenc}^ was secretly med- 
itating his own flight to England in the pinnace, 
leaving them to their fate. He had probably ex- 
hausted his private stores, and was now disposed to 
fly from the suffering which he had been willing 
neither to relieve nor share. His treachery was dis- 
covered, and so much moved the colonists, in spite 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 117 

of their languor and prostration, that they deposed 
him and put Kadcliffe in his place. This was sub- 
stantially placing Smith at the head of affairs. Ead- 
cliffe was incompetent ; " of weak judgment in dan- 
gers, and lesse Industrie in peace." He was perfectly 
satisfied that Smith should relieve him of the toils 
of his office and its responsibilities together. The 
result of this change was instantly apparent in the 
improved aspect of affairs. The manhood of Smith's 
character became conspicuous the moment that he 
felt his burdens. Still feeble from sickness, not well 
recovered, he at once addressed himself to his tasks, 
as vigorously as when he fought the Turks at Ee- 
gall, and made his way from Nalbritz to Wallachia. 
When he began his new labors there were no houses 
to cover the settlers ; the tents were rotten, and the 
cabins worse than useless. The chief men were sick 
or malcontent, the " rest being in such dispaire, as 
they would rather starve and rot with idleness than 
be persuaded to do anything for their owne reliefe 
without constraint.'* With such necessities to en- 
counter, with such materials to work with, Smith, 
by good words, fair promises, and his own example, 
succeeded in setting some to build, some to mow, 
others to bind, and others again to thatch — always, 
however, tasking himself beyond any of the rest. In 
this way he managed to provide comfortable dwell- 
ings for all but himself, and to give to Jamestown, 
for the first time, the appearance of a decent hamlet. 
In these labors he seems to have met with little re- 
sistance, if he found but little sympathy and succor. 
The council, in consequence of the death of Gosnold, 
the departure of Newport, and the expulsion of 
Kendall — who had been concerned in the schemes 
of Wingfield — consisted only of Radcliffe, Martin, 
and Smith ; and of these Radcliffe and Martin were 
still upon the sick-list, neither of them being very 



118 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

much beloved or very competent. It happened for- 
tunately for the colony that Smith's exertions were 
seconded by the favorable aspect of the Indians, 
who, with their usual caprice of character, suddenly 
laid aside their bows and arrows, and brought sup- 
plies of maize, greatly needed, to barter with the 
Europeans. This supply lasted for some time. With- 
out waiting to see it all consumed, Smith prepared 
to provide against that event. And here our ad- 
venturer takes occasion to meet the complaints of 
those who were disposed to blame the company in 
England for sending forth a colony with inadequate 
provision. The manly sense of justice, which makes 
so fine an element in his character, strikes the mur- 
mur at its root. He tells them they are " ill advised 
to nourish such ill conceits. * * * The fault in go- 
ing was our own ; what could be thought fitting or 
necessary we had ; but what we should find or want, 
or where we should be, we were all ignorant. * * * 
Supposing to make our passage in two moneths, 
with victuall to live, and the advantage of the spring 
to worke, we were at sea five moneths, — where we 
both spent our victuall and lost the opportunitie of 
the time and season to plant, by the unskilful pre- 
sumption of our ignorant transporters, that under- 
stood not at all what they undertooke." 

This is laying the blame on the right shoulders. 
The true evil w^as in the vanity, the worthlessness, 
and utter selfishness of those to whom so much of 
the power had been intrusted. Our author proceeds 
in a general reflection, which, even were it not that 
of Smith himself — as we believe it to be — is worthy 
to be preserved in this connection. 

" Such actions have, ever since the world's begin- 
ning, beene subject to such accidents, and everything 
of worth is found full of difficulties ; but nothing so 
difficult as to establish a commonwealth, so farre 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 119 

remote from men and meanes, and where men's 
minds are so untoward as neither doe well them- 
selves nor suffer others." — Truth in itself, but here 
a history, which accounts for all the niisha]is of the 
colony to the present moment, and makes the merit 
so much the greater on the part of him by whom 
all obstacles of untoward minds and inferior means 
were finally overcome. 

A few months have made a surprising alteration 
in his own and the fortunes of the colonists. His 
enemies are deposed. The prisoner is taken from 
his cell and placed at the head of affairs. The spirit 
of exulting selfishness is humbled into silence — 
crushed down Avith conscious humiliation, while it 
beholds the noble forbearance of him whom it has 
injured to exult in turn. His revenges are of the 
kind commanded by Scripture. He heaps fire on 
the head of his foes, by deeds of manliness and 
mercy. He interposes for their safety, and with 
success. They are soon made to see that he alone 
can be successful, that he is the king-man of the ex- 
pedition, a sovereign by the appointment of nature. 
No one looks to Eadcliffe or to Martin ; Wingfield 
goes out of sight, remembered only as a poor thiev- 
ing mercenar}^, from whom no man has anything to 
hope. Smith is master. He has compelled the tasks 
of labor ; he has done the work which no man had 
thought, or perhaps knew how to do before ; and 
now, as he sees the provisions of the Indians 
running low, he has measured out the allowances, 
and finds the supply sufficient for only eighteen 
days — he prepares to go in search of their granaries. 
He fits out the shallop, takes with him a select crew 
of seven men, and, with a store of European com- 
modities — hatchets, and beads, and bells, and glasses 
— he sets forth on a cruise. Ignorant of the Indian 
language, with seamen who neither know nor love 



120 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

the use of the oar, his men wanting in apparel, and 
few in number compared with the multitude of 
savages they must meet — these, he tells us, are im- 
pediments m his ^vay, but do not discourage him. 
Descending the river to its mouth, he reaches the 
hamlet of Kecoughtan, where Hampton now stands. 
Here he found the natives too well acquainted with 
the condition of the colony to treat him with respect. 
They deride his offers of barter, and taunt his 
poverty with scraps of bread, tendered for their 
swords and muskets. The arts of trade are exer- 
cised in vain. They regard the fate of the colony 
as in their hands, and are not to be tempted with 
the toys and trifles which are spread before them. 
Courtesy finds nothing but insolence ; and the neces- 
sities of Smith are such as will not suffer him to 
return with empty hands. " Though contrary to 
his commission," he " makes bold to try such con- 
clusions as necessitie inforced." His true commis- 
sion is to see that the people do not starve, and to 
this all other commissions must give place. But, 
though determined to obtain by force what he can- 
not get by trade, he is yet willing to " do his spirit- 
ing gently." He suddenly gives them a volley, 
directed so as to do no hurt, and then boldly runs 
his boat upon the shore. At this decisive move- 
ment the savages betake them to the woods, and, 
marching upon the hamlet, Smith finds their houses 
well stored with maize. It is with difficulty that 
be can restrain his hungry companions from seizing 
at once upon the prize ; but he is too good a soldier 
to suppose that his enemy will suffer this. He keeps 
his men together and prepares them for the assault, 
which follows almost immediately. The savages, 
recovered from their panic, to the number of sixty 
or seventy, painted in a variety of styles and colors 
equally hideous and fantastic, came darting from 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 121 

the woods in order of battle, timing their movement 
with songs and dances, after the manner of the an- 
cient Spartans. They brought with them their Okee, 
or god, a monstrous image made of skins, stuffed 
with moss, painted like themselves, and decorated 
with rude and uncouth ornaments. They were well 
armed with clubs and arrows, bows and targets, and 
charged the English without hesitation. Smith re- 
quites them, still disposed to pity, even where he 
must chastise, with pistol-shot only. These answer 
the purpose. The idol is the first, and perhaps the 
principal victim. It falls into the hands of the 
whites, while the red men again ^y to the shelter of 
the woods. Some of them are hurt, bub none, it 
would seem, severely. At all events these hurts 
provoke no anxiety while all the apprehensions of 
the tribe are awakened for the fate and captivity of 
their god. He must be recovered. He has to be 
ransomed. They understand and comply with the 
conditions ; load the boat of the colonists with 
maize, and bring them besides a bountiful tribute 
of venison, turkeys, and wild-fowl. Smith not only 
restores their Okee, but takes them to his friendship 
and protection. He has shown them that he can be 
a destroyer : he seeks to show them that he can be 
a benefactor also. He bestows upon them beads 
and hatchets, and they celebrate the reconciliation 
with songs and dances. His return to Jamestown 
infuses new life into the despairing settlers. But 
no increase of providence on their part follows 
his enterprise and industry. Their late miseries 
teach them no useful lesson. They waste as fast as 
he supplies, and his voyages require to be frequently 
repeated. In these vo3^ages he is not only successful 
in procuring the necessary provisions, but he makes 
frequent discoveries of new towns and tribes ; forms 
their acquaintance, becomes known and remarked 



122 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

by them in turn, and notes the resources of the 
country, and the manners, habits, and numbers of 
the people. The Chickabominy was penetrated in 
this way, and a trade opened with the people of that 
river. The tribes of Wanasqueak, of Tappahannock, 
and of Paspahegh, furnished ample markets. The 
latter he styles a churlish and treacherous people, 
jealous of their acquaintance with other tribes, yet 
not themselves loving them — who set spies upon 
their movements, and, but for the vigilance of our 
Captain, would have possessed themselves by stealth 
of the weapons of the Europeans. Smith travels 
among them by night and day, is always vigilant, 
yet never betrays apprehension. He treats them 
with kindness always, and is entertained in like 
manner. So anxious do they become to trade, that 
they will give the grain to him if he will not buy it, 
and they follow him in their canoes for this pur- 
pose. But he must let them hear his musketry, and 
to oblige them he gives a volley to the wild fowl 
upon the river, the Indians much fearing and wonder 
ing^to behold the feathers fly. 

Thus indefatigable, our heno is yet doomed to dis- 
cover that his toil consists in drawing water in a 
sieve. He toils for the worthless and the ungrate- 
ful. The malcontents, now that they have re- 
covered from their illness, have resumed all their 
evil nature. AVingfield and Kendall engage in a 
conspiracy, to which they persuade certain of the 
sailors to seize upon the pinnace which Smith has 
keptin order for his domestic enterprises, appropri- 
ate the provisions which he has brought, and steal 
away for England. The conspiracy is fairly a-foot, 
when it is discovered by one of the mechanics. This 
man, showing some insubordination, was chidden 
by the President, whom he defied and assaulted with 
bis, Smith's, implements. For this act the offender is 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 128 

tried by a jury, and sentenced to be hanged. It is 
only when he is actually upon the gallows that he 
can be persuaded that he will not be rescued by 
those comrades whose secret practises have led to 
his mutiny. When actually assured of his fate, he 
revealed the secret of the conspiracy. This prema- 
ture discovery urged the conspirators into instant 
activity. They seized upon the pinnace, and would 
have made off, but that Smith turned the guns of 
the fortress upon them, and forced them to remain 
where they were, or be sunk in the river. They 
chose the more prudent course, and the only victim 
to their insanity was Captain Kendall, the chief 
conspirator, who was tried by a jury, condemned, 
and shot to death. "^ 

Here it was Smith's energy again that interposed 
for the safety of the colony. It was his timely re- 
turn that baffles the conspiracy, and saves the pin- 
nace. His prompt decision, that, training the guns 
of the fort upon the conspirators, compels the sur- 
render of their chief, and brings the rest back to 
their duty, without rendering necessary any lavish 
sacrifice of life. 

The conspiracy is no sooner quieted than our 
sleepless adventurer embarks upon a new voyage of 
trade and discovery. His course is up the Chicka- 

* This fact is thus distinctly stated in the narrative of Smith 
himself, professing to be written by Tho. Watson, Gent., 
entitled, '• A true relation of such occurrences and accidents 
of noate as hath happened in Virginia since the first planting 
of that colony," etc. London. 1608. According to Stith, 
Kendall is slain in the action ; but this mistake seems to 
have arisen from the vague manner in which the facts are 
given in tlie third book of the "proceedings and accidents," 
where it is said that he (Smith) " with store of sakre and 
musket-shot forced them stay, or sink in the river, which 
action cost the life of Capt. Kendall," In other words, the 
movement, the seizure of the boat, the overt act of treason, 
cost him (the chief conspirator) his life. 



124: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

hominy, which the council desires him to follow to 
its source. He finds several new towns ; finds the 
store of grain in the country somewhat diminished, 
but procures a good supply, and returns to James- 
town, just in season to prevent another effort on the 
part of the malcontents to abandon the colony and 
return to Europe in the pinnace. But this attempt 
was after due form of law — a resolution submitted 
in council, and sustained by Captain Archer and 
the President ; Martin and Smith opposing it. It 
might have been difficult to arrest this new move- 
ment, thus legitimate in form and appealing to the 
homesickness of all parties, but for an agreeable 
change in the circumstances of the colony. The 
winter was approaching, and had covered the rivers 
with wild fowl in abundance. Ducks and geese 
were to be had for the gathering ; wild beasts, as 
fat as they could be eaten, drew near to the settle- 
ment, as if seeking to be slain ; and the prudence 
of Smith, his ample provision of the commodities 
furnished by the Indians — maize, pease, pompions, 
fish, and poultry — giving assurance of abundance 
through the winter, did more to quiet the discon- 
tents than any argument. Smith knew his country- 
men well, and knew through what medium in espe- 
cial it was required to approach their intellects. 
*' The Spaniard," he himself remarks, '' never more 
greedily desired gold than he victuall, nor his soul- 
diers more to abandon the country than he to keepe 
it." The living was so good, " that none of our 
Tu-fftaffaty * humorists desired to goe for Englande." 



* This is not a coinage of our author. He has authority for 
it among the poets. The allusion is to the condition of 
the velvet habits of our gentlemen colonists. These were 
worn into tufts. The Taffeta or Taffaty had become tufty. 
The word is a compound of Tuft and Taffata. Beaumont and 
Fletcher write '' Taffaties, silk grogans, sattins, and velvets 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 125 

"With returning health and vigor, life in the forests 
of America, with so much game around them, Avas 
a long day of pleasure, and, so long as it lasted, no 
more discontents or vain repinings after the mother- 
land were to be apprehended. The riant spirit 
which now filled their bosoms was that of Jeshurun. 
Having waxed fat, they kicked. Smith's enter- 
prises, which had saved them from perishing, did 
not now meet the general expectation. His asso- 
ciates in council reproached him Avith not having ex- 
plored the Chickahominy to its sources. This river, 
it was absurdly fancied, would conduct them into 
the South sea, then the great object of European 
discovery. It was in vain that he urged the greater 
importance to their present objects and necessities 
of laying in the Avinter supplies of maize when it 
could be procured from the Indians, and before 
the improvident savages became conscious of any 
scarcity. The river could always wait. He was 
told that he was slow. He might have answered — 
" I am sure ; and always fast enough for the neces- 
sity." But contenting himself with declaring the 
motives by which he had been governed, in for- 
bearing the contemplated exploration — and with 
which Ave are perfectly satisfied — he chose the most 
effectual mode of silencing the murmurs of the coun- 
cil, by AvithdraAving himself from sight, and by go- 
ing upon the proposed expedition. 

are mine." But Donne is more explicit, and applies directly 
to our case : 

" Sleeveless his jerkin was, and it had been 
Velvet, but 'twas now {so muck ground was seen) 
Become tufftaffaty .'^ 

The word not being in common use in Smitli's time in 
England, nor indeed at any time, the effort will not be great 
to fancy that our Indian trader was a frequent reader of the 
poets. His prose, indeed, would go far to prove the fact. 



126 l^IFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

The winter of 1607, remarkable for an extraor- 
dinary frost in Europe, Avas extremely cold in Vir- 
ginia ; but no seasons seemed to discourage the 
enterprise of our hero. He penetrated the Chicka- 
hominy for fifty miles in his barge, cutting his way 
through trees where they had fallen across the 
stream, and pressing on, from point to point, with 
all the diligence and address which marked his 
character. At length, the shoals becoming such as 
to endanger his vessel, he procured a canoe from the 
Indians, two of whom were engaged as oarsmen. 
Having put the barge in security, and given express 
charge to his men not to go ashore, he took with 
him two of his people, and with the two Indians 
continued his further voyage in the canoe. 

At this phice in his narrative Smith deems it 
neccessary to apologize for the extreme risk which 
he incurred by this proceeding. " Though some 
wise men," he remarks, " may condemn this too 
bould attempt of too much indiscretion, yet if they 
will consider the friendship of the Indians in con- 
ducting me, the desolateness of the country, the 
probabilitie of some lucke, and the malicious judges of 
my actions at home — as also to have some matters 
of worth to encourage our adventurers in England — 
might well have caused any honest minde to have 
done the like, as well for his own discharge, as for 
the public good." 

Tliese, we may remark, are the suggestions of a 
very noble mind. It is the probable '' lucke " of the 
colony that moves him to risk his life, and the 
anxiety to " encourage other colonists from Eng- 
land ; " — even the errors of judgment, which we 
find in this apology, are proofs of a high and gen- 
erous spirit, superior to the exactions of a ])etty 
self. He confides in the friendship of the Indians, 
which the cowardly and jealous nature will seldom 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 127 

do ; and he has " malicious judges at home," whom 
he would silence and disarm lorever by deeds of 
courage, which not one of them has the soul to em- 
ulate. If the argument of Smith does not wholly 
prove the correctness of his policy, it proves his own 
worth and manliness of character— his courage, 
and the honesty of his ambition. He thinks that 
his motives might well cause any " honest minde to 
have done the like." So they might ; but " honesty," 
Captain, is scarcely the sufficient word in this con- 
nection I Let it remain, however, as it is written. 

Smith had learned many admirable lessons in for- 
eio-n warfare, but he was yet to learn the subtlety of 
those tribes whose forests he had begun to subdue. 
The probability is, that every footstep which he 
took from the mouth of the Chickahorainy was 
noted by the spies of Powhatan. Whether the two 
Indians who rowed his boat were faithful to him is 
quite questionable. He himself was without suspi- 
cion, as he was without fear. He ascended the 
river in the canoe some twenty miles above the spot 
where his barge was anchored. Here, as the river 
was cumbered with trees and foliage, though still 
keeping sufficient depth for his progress, he left the 
canoe in the charge of the two Englishmen and one 
of the Indians. The other he took with him, and 
went ashore " to see the nature of the soil," and to 
head or cross the tributary branches of the stream. 
On leaving the canoe, he instructed his followers to 
keep their matches alight, and to discharge a piece at 
the first appearance of danger. With these precau- 
tions, deeming himself tolerably secure, he passed 
with his guide into the forests. 

A quarter of an hour had not elapsed, after his 
leaving the canoe, when he was startled by the war- 
whoop of the savage. JSTo warning matchlock ap- 
prised him of the proximity of any enemy, and be- 



1^8 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

lieving that the two whom he had left with the 
canoe had been betrayed and murdered by his In- 
dian guide, with the prompt decision of his character, 
he at once grappled with the Indian, his companion. 
The stern resolution of our adventurer, with the 
suddenness of his movement, disarmed the savage 
and subdued his spirit ; and Smith, with his garters, 
bound the arm of the savage tightly to one of his 
own ; thus preparing to use him as a buckler. He 
had scarcely taken this precaution, when he felt 
himself struck with an arrow upon the thigh. This 
shaft did no hurt, being discliarged from a respect- 
ful distance ; but a moment after the vigilant e^-esof 
our hero discovered two other Indians about to draw 
their bows upon him. He anticipated them by a 
discharge of his pistol, the effects of which they al- 
ready knew. This sent them flying for a while, and 
enabled him to reload his weapon. But they soon 
returned to the conflict, and Smith, retreating with 
his face toward them, and his fettered Indian — who 
proved quite submissive — still as a buckler between 
their darts and his bosom, slowly aimed to make 
his way backward to the canoe. But the sudden ap- 
pearance upon the ground, of Opechancanough, one 
of their greatest chiefs, at the head of more than tAvo 
hundred warriors, soon lessened, if it did not utterly 
destroy his hopes. But Smith was not to be sub- 
dued. He knew too much of the barbarian nature 
to exhibit any apprehensions ; and steadily contin- 
uing to retire, answered some twenty or thirty of 
their arrows with four or ^ve pistol-shots. To ap- 
proach him closely while possessed of these formi- 
dable weapons was no part of the Indian policy, and 
to do him much hurt at a distance, while he so 
adroitly interposed their comrade between him and 
their shafts, was soon discovered to be no easy 
matter. A conference took place between the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 129 

parties. Smith was told that his two followers 
were slain, but that his life would be spared if he 
would yield himself. But he must have better terms 
than this. He must be permitted to retire in safety 
to the boat. He will not deliver up his arms. He 
will use them, and shoot with them faniously, 
though his Indian buckler-man importunes him not 
to do so. This conference was carried on with less 
formal state than is customary on such occasions, 
as well in barbarous as in Christian countries. It 
was a sort of running conference — a running light 
at the same time ; Smith backing regularly as he 
argued, and drawing his tethered Indian along with 
him, very awkwardly placed, no doubt, between 
two fires, and anxious to get away ; Opechan- 
canough pressing upon him within treating and 
fighting distance, unwilling to provoke the pistol, 
but resolved that the Captain shall not get away. 
It is difficult to say how long this curious sort of 
strife could have been maintained, and what would 
have been its final issue, had not a mishap befallen 
our adventurer, against which he had made no pro- 
vision. Eetreating still, with face averted from the 
path, Avhich he treads, he walks suddenly into a 
morass, into which he drags perforce his unwilling 
companion. This morass alone had protected him 
from assault in the rear. But he was too busy with 
his foes in front to think of any other danger, and, 
up to his waist in bog, he cannot extricate himself 
without assistance. The hope of escape is at an 
end. He flings away his pistols, and makes signs 
of submission ; and he who has tasted of the perils 
of Turkish bondage will now have an opportunity 
of comparing it with that of the Apalachian. 
9 



130 Ll^ra OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER y. 

The misfortune of Smith seems to have been due 
entirely to the misconduct of his followers, whom 
he had left behind him in the canoe and barge. 
Had they not in both cases disobeyed his orders, 
neither they nor himself would have suffered harm. 
But, scarcely had he gone from si^ht, when tlie 
people in the barge determined to enjoy their free- 
dom on the land. They, too, in all probability, had 
some vague notions of coming upon the great river 
leading from the northeast into the South Sea — the 
vain desire, built upon gross ignorance, which pos- 
sessed many of the adventurers in that age; or, see- 
ing at a distance some headland of shining earth, they 
had brighter fancies of gold and silver ore to be gath- 
ered by the bucket. With vague appetites like these, 
or possibly only with the boyish desire to run and 
leap among the seemingly quiet woods, they drew 
nigh to the shore in their barge, and leaving her to 
the care of fortune, straggled off into the forests. 
They had not gone far, when they were surprised 
by Opechancanough, with three hundred warriors. 
They succeeded in escaping to the barge, and in sav- 
ing her, though not without great difficulty. One 
of their number, George Cassen, fell into the hands 
of the savages, and was made to suffer the miserable 
penalty of death for all the rest. In the hope to 
save his life, the captive revealed the secret of 
Smith's proi>Tess into the interior. The secret ob- 
tained, the poor wretch was despatched by the most 
cruel tortures — dismembered limb by limb, and cast 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 131 

into the fire. After this, Opechancanough hurried 
upon the trail of our adventurer. The men left in 
the canoe were equally remiss of duty with those in 
the barge, but paid more heavily for their error. 
They, too, had left the vessel, had gone ashore, built 
a fire, and were shot to death while they slept before 
it. Every step which Smith had taken was then 
followed, until he fell into the bog, and into their 
hands. The treacherous morass which enmeshed 
him, seems to have been one of the numerous swamps 
from which the river takes its rise. He had, there- 
fore, involuntarily pushed the exploring survey much 
more deeply than was at all needful in discovering 
its sources. Eut he had been no such easy victim as 
his besotted followers — three of them had he slain 
in the struggle, and " divers others had he gall'd." 
His skill and valor, while compelling their fears, 
commanded their respect and admiration. 

These he was careful not to forfeit. Drawn from 
the morass, cold and nearly frozen, he showed no 
signs of fear, and behaved with the most intrepid 
spirit. Brought before Opechancanough, he pre- 
sented him with the pocket-compass with which he 
traveled, and showed him the uses of the instru- 
ment. Great was the marvel at the play of the 
needle, which he could see through the glass, but 
never touch : and when Smith proceeded to explain 
to him, by mingled sign and speech, its wonderful 
properties — how it would follow sun, moon, and 
stars, — indicate his route on earth, and guide him to 
realms, and continents, and seas, of which our savages 
now heard for the first time, they were struck with 
amazement and silent wonder. This toy amused 
them for an hour, and when it ceased to do so, they 
fastened the captive to a tree, grouped themselves 
around him, and placing each an arrow on his bow, 
they prepared to shoot him. It is probable this was 



132 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

only an experiment upon his courage. He was a 
Captain — a Werowance or Chief— of whom much 
curiosity was entertained, and from whom much 
ransom^night be expected. At a signal from their 
king, their weapons were dropped, and leading him 
to the fire — where he beheld the body of one of his 
men, Thomas Emry, stuck full of arrows — they suf- 
fered him to warm himself, chafed his limbs, which 
were nearly frozen, gave him food, and treated him 
with kindness. He had occasion to remark that, 
though they fed him bountifully, not one of them 
would eat with him ; — a forbearance which reminds 
us of the reluctance of the Arabs and other Eastern 
nations to partake of food with those to whom they 
intend evil. 

He was reserved to grace the triumph of Opechan- 
canough. This sagacious savage was the King or 
Chief of Pamunkee — is styled one of the brethren 
of Powhatan; but subsequent narratives — for he 
made a figure in after events not less distinguished 
than that of Powhatan — represent him not to have 
been considered by the Indians a relative of Pow- 
hatan in any degree. Indeed, they describe him as 
being a foreigner, the Prince of a distant people in 
the southwest, who was adopted into the nation ; 
probably having been taken from his own while yet 
in his infancy.* He was a man of large stature, of 
noble presence and extraordinary parts, and a dig- 
nity of thought and carriage which might honor the 
highest places of Christian civilization. His treat 
ment of Smith while his captive, making due allow- 
ance for his own wild training, was creditable to his 

* See Beverley, Hist. Va., 51, 52 ; and Burke (Hist. Va.), 
vol. iii., pages 57-8-9, for an interesting account of the cap- 
ture of this chieftain, under the English colonial administra- 
tion of Sir W. Berkeley and of his brutal assassination while 
in captivity. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 133 

delicacy and humanity. That his captive should 
minister to his triumph, was due to the customs of 
his country ; and the practise does not seem to have 
discredited any of the Koman conquerors. It has 
policy for its Justification, and infuses courage into 
a people, and strengthens and confirms their 
patriotism. 

The procession which conducted Smith through 
the Indian towns, was one of rude state and cere- 
monial. He himself was guarded on either side by 
a sturdy savage, who kept fast hold upon his wrist. 
Opecha'ncanough moved midway in the column, and 
the guns, swords, and pistols, which had been taken, 
were borne before him. Their approach to a settle- 
ment or hamlet was distinguished b}^ the wild songs 
and dances of the warriors, — their yells of death and 
victory first bringing out the women and children 
to behold their spectacle of triumph. 

His first resting place in this humiliating progress 
was at Orapakes, where he was taken to a house and 
closely guarded by eight warriors. Here he was 
so well fed, with venison, and other food, that he 
began to be troubled with misgivings that their 
purpose was to fatten him for the table. To go 
to a feast, not to eat but to be eaten, was an event 
in prospect, not more agreeable to Smith than to 
Polonius. But this fear was only momentary, and 
proved to have been groundless. It does not appear 
anywhere that the E'orth American savage was a 
cannibal. At Orapakes one of the Indians to whom 
Smith had made some small present when he first 
came to Virginia, remembered the gift with grati- 
tude, and brought him his gown, which he seems to 
have discarded when first assailed by his captors. 
The gift was a grateful one, as the weather was in- 
tensely cold, and his condition was one to demand 
every possible consolation. 



1S4 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Some delay was made at Orapakes. It was one 
of the favorite residences of Powhatan, and here it 
may have been expected to meet him. It is probable 
that his captors waited here for instructions from 
their emperor. This detention increased the in- 
timacy between Smith and the savages, of which 
he contrived to avail himself in getting a letter 
to Jamestown. In this letter, which was written on 
the leaf of an old table-book, he wrote his wishes to 
the people at the fort ; described his condition ex- 
actly, instructed them to do all that they could to 
terrify the messengers, who were in fact spies, and 
upon whose report would depend their decision 
whether to assault the fort or not — a measure 
greatly urged by the King of Paspahegh ; who sa- 
gaciously insisted upon the moment the great wero- 
wance of the whites was in their power, and his peo- 
ple in consternation, as being particularly suited to 
the attempt. The letter also counseled certain 
things to be sent him, of which an inventory was 
given. His messengers — three in number — took the 
letter in weather so bitter and cold, with frost and 
snow, '^asin reason were impossible by any naked 
man to be endured." 

But they returned in three days, having faithfully 
executed their commission. The reports which they 
brought of the terrors by which the fort was en- 
vironed, confirming the dreadful accounts of mines, 
great guns, and engines of such dread, that no proper 
names for them could be found, determined them 
to forego the attempt upon the colony ; and then it 
was that the triumphal progress was resumed. But 
before this could take place, and, indeed, before 
Smith's despatches had been written, an incident 
occurred which had nearly rendered unnecessary 
any further negotiation. 

It appears that, soon after he had reached his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 135 

present resting-place, he was summoned to the assist- 
ance of one of the men whom he had wounded with 
his pistols. Looked upon as a conqueror — as a great 
Tnedlcine^ at least — it was taken for granted that he 
could heal as well as hurt ; and nothing seemed to 
them more natural and proper, than that he should 
do so where he himself had inJQicted the injury. 
But Smith found the wounded man in the last ex- 
tremity, and declared frankly he could do nothing 
for him. Something, he said, might be done, could 
he procure a certain medicine which he had at 
Jamestown ; and a requisition for this medicine was 
actually made in the letter which was sent. But 
the savage dying soon after, his father set upon our 
adventurer to revenge his death ; and would have 
slain him with his sword, but for the timely inter- 
position of the guard. Baffled in this way, he en- 
deavored to effect his object by shooting at him in 
his prison, but was again arrested in his designs be- 
fore any injury had been done. So intense was this 
wild passion of revenge, which the practise among 
the savages made justifiable, that, to defeat the pur- 
poses of his fury, they were compelled to remove 
the object of his pursuit and hate to other places of 
security. This, indeed, is given as one of the reasons 
for resuming the triumphal progress. 

The route of the procession was a circuitous one. 
The real object seems to have been to gratify the 
curiosity of as many townships as possible ; and pos- 
sibly the vanity of his captors, before taking him to 
Werowomoco, where Powhatan at this time resided. 
First, they carried him among the people who dwelt 
on the Youghtanund, or Paraunkee Eiver. From 
the Youghtanund they led him to the Mattaponies, 
the Piankatanks, the Nantaughtacunds, or the Rap- 
pahannock, and the Nominies, on the Potomac River. 
These rivers being passed, they showed him to nu- 



136 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

merous other tribes, with names equally barbarous. 
He was then brought back to the habitation of Ope- 
chancanouo-h, at Paraunkee, where a wild and sin- 
gular species of incantation was destined to take 
place ; the object of which is stated to be to ascer- 
tain by magical orgies what had been and were his 
real purposes towards them. In other words, the 
priests and conjurors of the nation were disposed to 
show themselves necessary to its safety, and to avail 
themselves of a novel circumstance to strengthen 
those vulgar superstitions by which they lived. For 
three days they conjured him by the rudest sort of 
ceremonials. Smeared with oil and paint, begrimed 
with black and red, garbed in the skins of wild 
beasts, and shaking their gourd rattles overhead, 
they danced around him, with shrieks and howlings, 
from the rising to the setting of the sun ; — then fed 
themselves and him, for neither had been suffered 
to partake of food while the day lasted ; but they 
took especial care not to eat with him — a circum- 
stance which still serves to keep up in our hero's 
mind a lively anxiety which regard to their cannibal 
appetites. Three days were thus spent in these and 
similar orgies ; the details of which could not en- 
lighten, and would scarcely please the reader. These 
over, he was removed to the dwelling of Opitcha- 
pam,"'^ the brother of Powhatan, who afterwards suc- 
ceeded to the empire. Here he was still well treated, 
that is, well fed ; his imagination, as he tells us in 
doggerel verse — in which he not unfrequently deals 
• — conjuring up"hydeous dreames," in his waking 
moments, of " wondrous shapes," " strange bodies," 
" huge of growth," 

*' And of stupendous makes ; " 
the effects probably of over feeding, an inactive con- 
* Beverley calls him Itopatin. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 137 

dition of body, and a mind full of active apprehen- 
sions. But his spirits do not fail him, nor his cour- 
age. His aspect is still such as to conanaand the 
respect of the savages. They seek to persuade and 
to intimidate him. They offer him " life, liberty, 
land, and women," if he will only show them how 
to get possession of the fort at Jamestown. They 
exult in the possession of a bag of gunpowder, the 
qualities of which they know ; and which, regarding 
it as a seed, they proposed to sow, in hope of future 
crops by which to retort the explosive missiles of 
the pale-face. 

Smith loses no opportunity to impress them with 
a sense of the superiority of the whites ; of their 
wondrous resources, and unmentionable powers. He 
does not undeceive them with regard to the gun- 
powder, and we may suppose that they sow the crop 
at the due season in spring. He is ec^ual to all their 
arts. They bring him one of his pistols, requiring 
him to discharge it, in order, as he perceives, that 
they may learn its use. But his subtlety equals 
theirs. He adroitly breaks the cock of the weapon, 
which he succeeds in persuading them is accidentally 
done. They can make nothing of him, and he, if 
he makes nothing of them, at all events maintains 
his manhood in their eyes, and assumes the guise of 
cheerfulness, though grief sits heavy at his heart. 
At length, after a long delay, which was probably 
not without its object, the captive is conducted to 
Werowocomoco,* the residence of Powhatan, and 
into the presence of that despotic chieftain. 

* Called Meronocomoco in the *' Discoveries and Accidents," 
vol. i., c. ii., p. 162, of the octavo edition printed at Rich- 
mond, Va. 



138 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER YL 

We have now reached a period in the career of 
our hero, the events of which are much more inti- 
mately associated with his memory in the minds of 
men than those of any other in the whole of his 
long eventful history. Though not more remark- 
able, perhaps, than many others — not more impos- 
ing or impressive than his three single combats 
with the Turkish champions before Regall — than 
his captivity and escape from the bondage of the 
Bashaw of Bogall, bearing with him the blood of 
that cruel despot, and the tender affections of his 
gentle sister — j^et there is something in the first ap- 
pearance of the sweet forest damsel, Pocahontas, 
upon the scene in which Smith is the hero, and 
nearly the victim, which commends this part of his 
story, more than any other, to the sympathies and 
remembrances of our people. It is as the prisoner 
of Powhatan, the great Indian Emperor of Virginia 
— as the captive doomed to perish in the hands of 
savages by a sudden and a crael death, and rescued 
at the last moment by the unexpected interposition 
of the young and tender-hearted child of the fierce 
old monarch — that our hero fixes the attention of 
the hearer when his name is but mentioned. We 
have reached that point in his career upon which 
the eye inevitably fastens, heedless of every other, 
when he becomes the subject ; — that exquisite epi- 
sode in the history of the new world, which, appeal- 
ing equally to the affections and the imagination, 
has never lost the charm of its original loveliness 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 139 

and freshness, even though a thousand iterations 
have made it the most familiar of all our forest 
stories. It is one of those tales which combine 
several elements of the tender and the tragic — like 
that of the Grecian daughter — like that of the 
Koman Virginius ; more certainly true than either 
of these legends, and not less touching and beauti- 
ful ; which, partaking of similar sources of interest, 
and appealing equally to the deepest sources of feel- 
ing in the heart, the mind treasures up naturally 
and without an effort, as a chronicle equally dear to 
its virgin fancies and its sweetest sensibilities. 

From the moment that Smith became the prisoner 
of the savages of Opechancanough, he had every 
reason to fear the worst. Threatened with assas- 
sination by his personal foes, even against the will 
of those who had him in captivity, there were yet 
other ominous circumstances which, as he well knew 
the practises among the Indians, furnished sufficient 
reason for his fears. They fed him, and refused to 
eat with him ; and he was borne about on a sort of 
triumphal progress, as a sort of show, from town to 
town, in order, as it would seem, to the gratification 
of all eyes, before he should be finally conducted to 
the stake. The object on every hand of a peculiar 
curiosity, the condition of our captive was suffi- 
ciently humiliating. Brought at length to Wero- 
wocomoco, which lay on the north side of Fork 
Eiver, in Gloucester County, and seems to have been 
the royal residence for the time, his mind appears 
somewhat to have yielded to his fatigues, his priva- 
tions, and not improbablv his fears. He conjured 
up the worst phantoms for his torment ; and some 
of the images that oppressed his imagination may 
have grown out of the grim and hideous aspect by 
which he was constantly surrounded. Brought to 
the residence of Powhatan, he was not immediately 



140 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

conducted into the presence of the Emperor, but re* 
mained at some distance in the forest, in order, as 
it would seem, that suiSicient opportunity should be 
afforded the latter for making his preparations for 
the reception. This, it appears, was to be an affair 
of great state and ceremonial. A barbarous sort of 
pomp ha.d already distinguished his progress through 
the country, and his reception at the various towns 
and settlements. It was-held necessary that the 
royal reception should far excel anything of the 
kind that had yet taken place. Kept in waiting, 
accordingly, our hero was constantly attended by 
crowds, who watched and wondered at his every 
movement. " Grim courtiers," Smith himself styles 
them, more than two hundred in number, who stood 
gazing upon him " as he had beene a monster." 

At length the signal w^as received, and the cap- 
tors and the captive were vouchsafed an audience. 
Powhatan had completed his preparations. Him- 
self and suite Avere assembled. The interview seems 
to have taken place in the open air, among the great 
trees of the forest ; a pleasant space in the woods, 
which, as we may reasonably conjecture, was usually 
assigned for similar purposes — for the reception of 
ambassadors, a seat of judgment, and a place of 
fatal sacrifice together. Certainly there could not 
be a more royal saloon. Great pines sent up their 
gigantic pillars ; wide-spreading oaks stretched their 
gnarled and antling branches overhead ; and through 
the umbrageous masses the blue canopy of the sky 
was visible and hanging over all. Conspicuous in 
this area, sate, or rather reclined, the Indian Em- 
peror. His seat of state was a sort of bedstead, 
raised about a foot above the ground, upon which 
he might either sit or recline at pleasure. Some 
ten or a dozen mats formed the covering of this 
rude seat, immediately in front of which a great fire 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 141 

was kept blazing. Upon this couch or throne, half 
lying, in something like Oriental state, the form of 
Powhatan was seen between the persons of two 
young damsels, neither of whom was more than 
eighteen years of age. These were, in all probabil- 
ity, the favorites of our forest sultan. On either 
hand, and ranging behind this group, Avere the war- 
riors and the women who formed the suite of the 
Emperor. These were sitting or standing in alter- 
nate rows, and were all a]^pareled in such orna- 
ments as they could respectively command. Some 
had their heads decorated with the white down, and 
the plumage of native birds. Some wore strings of 
white beads upon their necks and bosoms. Others 
were otherwise adorned ; and all of them appeared 
with cheeks, brows and shoulders thickly painted 
with a brilliant red. But the chief, as the central 
figure of the group, was Powhatan himself; a man 
who needed not the foreign aid of ornament to 
render him conspicuous in any circle. This prince, 
at the period of which we write, was fully sixty 
years of age. But time had taken nothing from 
the intense fire in his eye, and in no respect sub- 
dued the erect energies of his ample stature. His 
aspect was severe and noble. His presence was 
majestical. His bearing was that of one to whom 
sway was habitual, and the haughtiness of which 
seemed not unnatural or improper to one accus- 
tomed to frequent conquest. " He wore," says 
Smith, " such a grave and majestical countenance, 
as drave me into admiration to see such state in 
a naked salvage." Yet Powhatan was no naked 
savage, and the rudeness of his state was by no 
means inconsistent with its dignit}^ The ''rich 
chaynes of great pearles," which we are told encir- 
cled his neck and the "great robe, made of rarow- 
cun (racoon) skinnes," which covered his person— 



142 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

their tails all properly disposed and pendant — were 
no doubt worn with quite as much grace and majesty 
as the most costly habiliments of civilization by the 
potentates of Christendom. Indeed, it is not often 
that the dignitaries of the civilized world — the 
creatures of a capricious art, and an unstable con- 
vention — could compare in nobleness of bearing 
with the lords of the American forest, taught by 
nature herself, and with limbs rendered free and 
graceful in spontaneous movement, by the constant 
exercises of battle and the chase. It is certain, at 
least, from all accounts, that Powhatan needed quite 
as little of dress and decoration for the purposes of 
state as any hereditary prince in Europe. The face, 
the air, the carriage of the Emperor, seemed fully 
to justify the unlimited sway which he held over 
the affections of his people. Whatever might have 
been the deficiencies of our forest chieftain, it is 
very sure that the qualities of a noble bearing, lofty 
demeanor, calm grave intelligence of aspect, and 
free natural movements were not among them. His 
grace in the management of ceremonial shows him 
" to the manner born ;" and, subsequently, speaking 
of him at another interview under less trying cir- 
cumstances to himself. Smith describes him sitting 
" uppon a throne at the upper ende of the house, 
with such a majestic as I cannot expresse, nor yet 
have often scene, either in pagan or Christian;" — 
a brief but complete description, to which farther 
details could give no efficiency. 

There was one person in this assembly whom 
yet we are not permitted to see. This is Pocahon- 
tas. That she was present we know from the con- 
spicuous share which she took in the proceedings of 
the day. But no place has been assigned her at the 
opening of the scene by any of our narrators. It is 
very apparent that she was not seen by Smith 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. I43 

until the moment when she rushed forward to his 
rescue ; and this excl jsion may be easily accounted 
for. At this period Pocahontas was a child of ten 
years old. It has been the error to describe her as 
twelve or thirteen. This is the statement in Stith, 
Burke, and other writers, but it is without authority. 
Others have confounded her with one of the tw^o 
young women who sate at the head and feet of Pow- 
hatan ; but Smith himself describes them as *' young 
wenches, of 16 or 18 years," — a phraseology which 
he never employs where Pocahontas is concerned. 
In the narrative of Simons in Smith's history, no 
allusion is given to her age. She is spoken of as 
the " King's dearest daughter," always respectfully 
and affectionately, but in no more definite manner. 
The deficiency is supplied, however, in the narrative 
entitled a " True Relation," etc.,* purporting to be 
written by Th. Watson, Gent., but in reality by 
Smith himself. The internal proofs of this are 
quite conclusive, even if there were no other. In 
this narrative we have this description : " Powlia- 
tan^ lender standing we detained certain salvages^ 
sent his daughter^ a child of tenne years old, which 
not only for feature^ coxmtenance and projportion^ 
mioch exceedeth any of the rest of his people, hut for 
wit and spirit the only noiipareil of his country, etcP 

* '' A true relation of such occurrences and accidents of 
noate as hath happened in Virginia since the first planting of 
that coUony, which is now resident in the south part thereof, 
'till the last returne from thence. Written by Th. Watson, 
Gent., one of said collony, to a worshipful! friend of his in 
England. London : Printed for Jolm Tappe ; and are to be 
sold at the Grey-hound in Paule's Church-yard, by W. W. 
1608." The copy before us in an excellent reprint, made by 
the publishers of the Southern Literary Messenger, and in 
connection with that excellent periodical. A preface to this 
pamphlet, signed L. H., and purporting to be written while 
Smith is still one of the council in Virginia, asserts him to be 
the author of it, and ascribes the alias to the blunder of 
a printer. 



144 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

That the girl here described was Pocahontas we 
know elsewhere from the narrative of Simons, who 
makes full mention of the mission upon which she 
is sent, the particulars of which we shall reach here- 
after. 

That a child of ten years old should not be con- 
spicuous at such a scene as that to which Smith is 
conducted, is natural enough. She may have been 
concealed in one of the troops of damsels that stood 
behind or beside the couch of her father ; she might 
have been sitting, timidly crouching, on some low 
rock at his feet. That she was present, and destined 
to exercise a vital influence upon the events which 
were to follow, we already know. 

The appearance of the captive before the king 
was welcomed by a shout from all the people. This 
does not appear to have been an outbreak of exulta- 
tion. On the contrary, the disposition seems to 
have been to treat the prisoner with becoming 
gravity and consideration. A handsome young 
woman, the Queen of Apamattuck, is commanded 
to bring him water, in which to wash his hands. 
Another stands by with a bunch of feathers, a sub- 
stitute for the towel, with which he dries them. 
Food is then put before him, and he is instructed to 
eat, while a long consultation takes place between 
tlie Emperor and his chief warriors as to what shall 
be done with the captive. In this question Smith 
is quite too deeply interested to give himself entirely 
to the repast before him. He keeps up a stout heart 
and a manly countenance; but, to employ some of 
the lines quoted by the quaint narrator whose state- 
ments he adopts, ^ 



" Sure his heart was sad ; 

For who can pleasant be and rest, 
That lives in feare and dread ? " 

The discussion results unfavorably. His judges 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 145 

decide against him. It is the policy of the savages 
to destroy him. He is their great enemy. He is 
the master spirit of the powerful and intrusive 
strangers. They have already discovered this. 
They have seen that by his will and energies, 
o-reat courage and equal discretion, he has kept 
down the discontents, disarmed the rebellious and 
strengthened the feeble among his brethren ; and 
they have sagacity enough to understand how much 
more easy it will be, in the absence of this one 
adventurous warrior, to overthrow and root^ out 
the white colony which he has planted. It is no 
brutal passion for blood and murder which prompts 
their resolution. It is a simple and clear pohcy, 
such as has distinguished the decision in hke cases 
of far more civilized, and even Christian communi- 
ties ;— and the award of the council of Powhatan is 
instant death to the prisoner. He is soon apprised 
of their decision bv their proceedings. Two great 
stones are brought into the assembly, and laid before 
the king. " Then as many as could lay hands on 
him, dragged him to them, and thereon layd his 
head." " Being ready with their clubs to beate out 
his braines," it was then that "Pocahontas, the 
Kings dearest daughter," interposed for his safety. 
It seems that she first strove to move her father bv 
entreaties, but finding these of no avail, she darted 
to the place of execution, and before she could be 
prevented, got the head of the captive in her arms, 
and laying her own upon it, in this w^ay arrested 
the stroke of the executioner. And this was the 
action of a child ten years old! We may imagine 
the exquisite beautv of such a spectacle—the infan- 
tine grace, the feminine tenderness, the childish eag;er- 
ness, mingled with uncertainty and fear, with which 
she maintained her hold upon the object of her con- 
cern and solicitude, until the wild and violent pas- 



10 



146 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

sion of her father had been appeased. This is all 
that comes to us of the strange, but exquisite dra- 
matic spectacle. Few details are given us. The 
original narrators from whom we draw are cold and 
lifeless in their statements. Smith himself says little 
on the subject ; and in the narrative alread}^ quoted 
— that of Watson — especially known as his, it is 
curious to note that the whole event is omitted, not 
even the slightest allusion being made to Pocahon- 
tas. But it is not denied that we may conceive for 
ourselves the beauty and the terror of this highly 
tragic scene. Imagination ma}^ depict the event in 
her most glowing colors. The poet and the })ainter 
will make it their own. They will show us the 
sweet child of the forest clasping beneath her arm 
the head of the pale warrior, while the stroke of 
death, impending over both, awaits but the nod of 
the mighty chieftain, whose will is law in all that 
savage region. They will show us first the rage 
and fury which fill his eyes as he finds himself baf- 
fled by his child, and then the softening indulgence 
with which he regards that pleading sweetness in 
her glance which has always had such power over 
his soul. " She was the Kmg's dearest daughter: " 
— this is the language of the unaffected and simple 
chroniclers, and her entreaty prevails for the safety 
of the prisoner. Her embrace seems to have con- 
secrated from harm the head of the strange intruder. 
The policy of her nation, their passion for revenge 
and blood, all yield to the potent humanity which 
speaks in the heart of that unbaptized daughter of 
the forest, and the prisoner is freed from his bonds 
and given to the damsel who has saved him. Hence- 
forth he is her captive. That is the decree of Pow- 
hatan. He shall be spared to make her bells and 
her beads, and to weave, into proper form, her or- 
naments of copper. 




Pocahontas saving tl'.e life of Captain John Smith. 

Capta in J oh n Sm ith . 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 147 



CHAPTEK YII. 

The effect of this timely interposition of Poca- 
hontas was not limited to" the mere saving of our 
hero's life. The results were highly advantageous 
in other respects to the colony of the English. It 
secured for it the tolerance of the Emperor, while it 
gained for Smith himself the special favor and 
friendship of the savage. In all probability the 
superstitious, not less than the human feelings of 
Powhatan, were touched by the unlooked-for inter- 
ference of his daughter in the bloody scene which 
he was preparing to enact. Such a boldness at 
the perilous and precious moment, in a child so 
young, might well awaken, even in more sophis- 
ticated natures, an impression that the act was of 
providential inspiration — the work of a superior 
agency. At all events, the benefits were soon ap- 
parent. Smith was not only spared, but taken into 
immediate favor. The Emperor assured him of his 
friendship, professed to regard him as his own son, 
and promised him his liberty in a few days. But 
these favors were coupled with conditions. Pow- 
hatan was ambitious of being the possessor of cer- 
tain of the great guns, of whose terrible powers 
vague accounts had already reached his ears. The 
uses of a grindstone Avere also known to him, and 
one of these was an object of his desire. To obtain 
these chattels, he promised his captive the entire 
country of Capahosick ; a territory the limits of 
which it would perhaps be somewhat difficult at this 
day to define. 



148 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Smith was somewhat cheered by these assurances, 
and this display of kindness ; but he put little faith 
in the sincerity of the savage monarch. He was 
conscious himself of a certain degree of practise in 
his own assurances, and felt but little confidence, 
accordingly, in what was told him. Their confer- 
ences together were ver}^ frequent, and on the best 
footing of amity. What had been told of our hero 
to Powhatan had evidently impressed him greatlj'' 
with his ability and courage. All that he had pre- 
viously related to Opechancanough was now to be 
repeated ; and a thousand questions were asked with 
regard to the coming and objects of the English, 
which it required all the pruclence and subtlety of 
Smith to answer, without endangering the friendly 
relations between the parties. It need not be saicl 
that our adventurer made no scruple of suppressing 
the truth where it served his purpose to do so. He 
had discovered that the Indians of Powhatan had 
suffered some injuries from Spanish vessels, and he 
framed his own stor}^ to suit the prejudices of his 
hearer. His people had been overpowered in a 
fight Avith the Spaniards, their enemies, and had 
sought shelter in the Chesapeake. The story was 
plausible, and the enmity of both to the Spaniards 
was the source of a new tie between them. But his 
exploring voyage in a canoe to the heads of the 
rivers of the country, suggested a new doubt to 
Powhatan, and new difficulties to his captive. But 
to his questions on this head the ready invention of 
Smith found a prompt answer. A brother had been 
slain by a people living in the rear of the terri- 
tories of Powhatan, who were supposed to be the 
Monacans, his enemies also. The murder of this 
youth it was his business to revenge. These motives 
our savage found ver^^ good and justifiable, and led 
Powhatan into a description of his territories and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. I49 

those of his neighbors ; how they lay, and how they 
were watered ; what was the number, and what were 
the habits of the Anchawachucks — whom he assumed 
to be those by whom Smith's brother had been 
slain — and the " Pocoughtronacks, a fierce nation, 
who did eate men." Some of these people were de- 
scribed as carrying " swords like pollaxes," and 
wearing long hair on the neck, though their crowns 
were shaven. Beyond the territories of these, Pow- 
hatan described yet other tribes, some of whom 
wore short coats, with sleeves to the elbows, and 
traveled the seas in ships like those of the English. 
He had other tales of yet other kingdoms and peo- 
ple — vague outlines which, when we consider the 
imperfect modes among the savages of estimating 
time and distance, it would be quite unprofitable to 
examine or review. Smith, however, drank in his 
statements with attentive ears. A mighty river was 
described by Powhatan, having numerous kingdoms 
on its banks, which might be the Mississippi ; the 
imperfect knowledge of the languages of the parties 
rendering doubtful between them, even matters the 
most precise and natural. A clothed people, cities of 
walled houses, a people having abundance of brass — 
or gold ; these Avere the wonders which the Indian 
Emperor related to his European companion, expa- 
tiating upon his own and the prowess of his tribu- 
taries and rivals. Smith was not to be outdone in 
wonders. In requital for the geography and history 
of Apalachia, he bestowed upon Powhatan a compre- 
hensive account of all the wonders of Europe ; — the 
multitude of ships and cities — the thunders of their 
wars — the glories of their martial array — and the 
ear-piercing character of drums and trumpets. Our 
sagacious adventurer knew well in what manner to 
awaken the admiration, and compel the respect of 
the dusky chieftain. He took care to impress him 



150 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

with the military powers in the possession of Captain 
Newport, who was daily expected with supplies from 
England ; and whom, adopting an Indian title, the 
better to be understood, he called the Werowance, 
or Prince, of all the waters of the sea. By this 
timely suggestion he made it easy sailing for 
Newport in after days. 

These mutual communications greatly increased 
the intimacy between the parties, though Smith 
does not seem to have foregone his doubts of the 
good faith of Powhatan, until he was fairly beyond 
his power. His detention lasted but a few days, 
which were naturally demanded by the curiosity of 
the Indian monarch, and his people. Indeed, less 
time could scarcely have been yielded to the im- 
mense amount of diplomacy which was required 
between them. So greatly did Powhatan come to 
admire his European acquaintance in the sequel, 
that he desired him to forsake the country of Pas- 
pahegh, where he had settled, and to come more 
closely into the immediate neighborhood of Wero- 
wocomoco. He promised that the English should 
lose nothing by it, but that he would supph^ them 
with all necessaries — with corn, venison, and all 
manner of food, and protect them against all ene- 
mies, for which he should demand nothing but their 
labor in finding him in hatchets, and working copper 
for him according to instructions. Smith gave him 
good words, and spoke him fairl}^ but evasivel3^ 
He promised him his great guns and grindstones, 
as soon as he should get to Jamestown ; and after 
being treated with a hospitality and kindness, which 
Smith acknowledges without reserve, he despatched 
him under the charge of twelve men ^ on his way 
to the colony. 

*^ '^Twelve guides^^ according to the "Discoveries" and 
" Accidents." The ' ' True Relation," says four, and with such 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 151 

Bat the apprehensions of Smith were not to be 
lulled into quiet by all these sliows of kindness, 
and one or more little circumstances, while on the 
journey, kept him in a state of lively apprehension. 
He still had his fears that he was to be eaten, and 
that this was the true secret of all their solicitude 
in feasting hirn. He was only to be fattened, and 
decorated, like a lamb for the slaughter. The dis- 
tance, in a direct route, from Werowocomoco to 
Jamestown, was only twelve miles, yet nothing 
could persuade his guides to advance properly for- 
ward. "The Indians trifled away that da}^, and 
would not goe to our fort by any persuasions." 
The first night after leaving Powhatan, they "quar- 
tered in the woods," so we are told b}' one narrative ; 
another, more certainly his own, says, " in certain 
olde hunting houses of Paspahegh, we lodged all 
night." "He still expecting (as he had done all 
this long time of his imprisonment) every houre to 
be put to one death or other, for all their feasting." 
But his apprehensions proved groundless. . " Al- 
mighty God (by his divine providence) had mollified 
the hearts of those sterne barbarians with com- 
passion." They neither killed nor eat him ; but, 
whatever might have been their motive for the un- 
necessary delay, "the nexte morning, ere sunrise, 

detail that the sentence deserves to be given. " Having, with 
all the kindness hee could devise, sought to content me, he 
sent me home with 4 men, — one that usually carried my 
govvne and knapsack after me, two others loaded witli bread, 
and one to accompany me." Both narratives may be correct ; 
other Indians may have joined them en route ; and when we 
recollect that grindstones, and great guns, were to be carried 
back by the savages, twelve of them will not be deemed an 
excessive number for the escort. One would think, too, that 
two men to carry the bread alone, would be a rather large 
proportion to the number which it was to feed, if these were 
limited to four. The point, however, is of no great im- 
portance. 



152 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

we set forward for our fort, where we arrived 
within an hour." 

Here Smith found himself welcomed on every 
hand with the truest shows of friendship and satis- 
faction. He was greeted as one from the dead ; it 
was as if the grave had given up its prey ; and in 
his absence, and supposed loss, the colonists, per- 
haps for the first time, began to feel how necessary 
he had been to their safety, and the success of the 
settlement. Things had gone ill during his absence, 
and there were some few exceptions to the almost 
universal language of congratulation which hailed 
his return. Captain Archer, who had been sworn 
of the council, in his place, and while he was sup- 
posed to have perished, Avas by no means glad to 
see him ; and there were some two or three of his 
creatures, who suffered him to see that he was much 
less likely to offend them while he remained with 
the Indians, than when he came to thwart their 
progress in the infant settlement. His return was 
exceedingly opportune. He found a large party of 
discontents preparing once more to run away with 
the pinnace, and to break up the colony. Their 
plans were laid, and the appointed hour had arrived, 
and all was baffled again by his providential coming. 
He soon fathomed their schemes, and being rightly 
advised, with the soldier-like decision that distin- 
guished all his actions, he put the fort and his chosen 
men in order, so that the mutineers could only suc- 
ceed in the teeth of " sackre, falcon and niusket 
shot," in getting off with the pinnace. " For the 
third time," at " the hazzard of his life," Smith 
" forced them to stay, or sinke." 

Finding that they must submit, and that nothing 
could be effected with such a " master of fence "^ at 
his own weapons, they had recourse to subtleties, 
under the name of law, for the better overthrow of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 153 

their arch enemv. Having laid their own heads to- 
gether, and so confounded that of the President, 
Captain Martin, as for the time to get his sanction 
to their proceedings, they charged upon Smith the 
death of the two men, Emry and Kobinson, who had 
been slain by the Indians, at the time of his capture. 
The Levitical law was applied to the case of our 
adventurer, and, urging that it was by his fault or 
practise that they had come by their death, they re- 
quired that his life should atone for his crime or 
error. The two persons, for whose lives he was 
thus required to answer, had fallen victims to their 
own imprudence, and the neglect of Smith's especial 
orders. Upon this charge, so very absurd, they 
built their hopes to take his life, or at all events to 
depose him from his sway in the colony, and his 
seat at the council. But Smith was too much of a 
man and soldier to be caught, and thrown upon 
his back, by such flimsy subtleties as this. He 
quickly took such order with these crude colony 
lawyers, that he laid them by the heels, and had 
them very soon as prisoners on the high road to 
England. The timely arrival of Captain Newport 
enabled him more effectually to triumph over his 
enemies. ITewport saw through their malice, and 
his support and sympathy served for a time to silence 
and to subdue all disaffection to that authority 
which it was in the nature of such a man as Smith 
to exercise, in every situation of difficulty and dis- 
tress. The want of food which ensued upon his ab- 
sence from the colony, had given strength to the 
objects of the malcontents, none of whom seems to 
have possessed the ability, the courage, and the skill 
by which Smith had always before succeeded in pro- 
curing the requisite supplies. His failure and cap- 
tivity served completely to discourage their enter- 
prise. His resolution, and determination to keep 



154: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

the discontents from leaving the colony, were assisted 
by the news he brought of the favor of Powhatan, 
and of the abundance of food which might be ob- 
tained from that savage chieftain, in this season of 
his good humor ; and his story of the rescue of his 
life by Pocahontas, " so revived their dead spirits," 
as to make almost all of them abandon their fears 
of famine. They saw in this alliance with the 
greatest potentate of the country, and in the affec- 
tion which he and his daughter had conceived for 
their favorite leader, a guaranty against all the pri- 
vations of the future ; and, as is usual with persons 
of such condition, were as easily persuaded to the 
extreme of hope and exultation, as, but a little while 
before, and with as slender reason, they had been 
hurried to the verge of despair and mutiny. " Xow, 
whether," writes John Smith, though his chapter 
is claimed to be the production of three others* be- 
sides himself, though his hand is clearly legible in 
every sentence; " ISTow, whether it had beene better 
for Captaine Smith to have concluded with any of 
those severall projects, to have abandoned the 
countrey, with some ten or twelve of them whoioere 
called the better sort^ and have left Mr. Hunt our 
Preacher, Master Anthony Gosnell^ a most honest, 
worthy, and industrious Gentleman, Master Thomas 
Wotton, and some 27 others of his countrymen, to 
the fury of the savages, famine and all manner of 
mischiefes and inconveniences (for they were but 
fortie in all to keepe possession of this large coun- 
trey), or starve himself with them for company, for 
want of lodging ; or for adventuring abroad to make 
them provision, or by his opposition to preserve 
the action, and save all their lives " (here the four 

* Written by Thomas Stiidley, tlie first cape merchant in 
Virginia, Robert Fenton, Edward Harrington, and J. S. (note 
to Chap. 2, Book 3, of the " Ti-ue Travels,'' 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 155 

writers dwindle into the first person singular), " I," 
here Smith speaks out for himself — "I leave all" 
honest men to consider," is the conclusion of the 
paragraph. Time has saved us the work of con- 
sideration. The results have justified the proceed- 
ings of our hero. We must not omit to notice his 
allusion here to the " ten or twelve " called ** the 
better sort." Smith, from the beginning, complains 
of the vast disproportion between the workingmen 
and the gentlemen sent to the colony. The passage 
which we have just quoted, is evidently meant as 
argumentative and justificatory, and intended to 
neutralize the opinions which the representations of 
these gentlemen in England might provoke at his 
expense. 

Smith did not suffer the commotions and strifes at 
Jamestown to make him forgetful of his Indian 
guides, and the promises he had made to Powhatan. 
Having fed and housed them well, endeavoring as 
well as he could to impress them equally with his 
magnificence and hospitalitj^ he called them up on 
the morning after his return, and placed the great 
guns and the grindstones before them. The cannon 
proffered them were two demi-culverins. The weight 
of a grindstone, of ordinary size, may be imagined. 
It is needless to say that a single trial of Indian 
strength upon these formidable masses, soon put out 
of their heads entirely, the notion that they could 
be carried upon their shoulders ; and their reluctance 
to make the attempt was greatly increased, when 
stuffing the bowels of his cannon with a decent load 
of powder and stones. Smith applied the torch, and 
allowed them to hear the bellowing thunder, and 
see the wild lightning which issued from their jaws. 
And when they saw the effect among the trees of 
the forest, their great boughs loaded with icicles, 
torn away by the shot, and tumbling in all direc- 



156 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

tions to the ground, the trusty followers of PoAvhatan 
took to their heels, half dead with fear. They could 
not be persuaded to burden themselves with gifts, 
as terrible as they were burdensome and weight}^. 
But our adventurer did not send them away with 
empty hands. He was not ungrateful to Powhatan, 
still Tess was he indifferent to the sympathies of the 
sweet forest damsel to whose Avarm humanities he 
was indebted for his life. For her he felt a deep 
attachment, such, perhaps, as a father might feel for 
a dear child, as precious to him by reason of her 
own merits, as by blood. It is one of the vulgar 
errors of modern times that Pocahontas felt for 
Smith a different sort of attachment, and it is made 
his reproach, that he showed himself insensible to 
her love. This is mere ignorance and absurdity. 
By his own showing she was but ten years old at 
this period, and he was near thirty. He speaks of 
her always as a child — as a dear child ; and it is 
evident he thought her so, and her language for him 
is that only of veneration. It is an erroneous notion 
of the requisites of the romantic, to demand tha.t a 
warmer sentiment than that of father and daughter 
should spring up between such parties. It is to this 
notion only, that we owe the charge of ingratitude 
which has been made against Smith, because of his 
supposed neglect of her affections. But of this here- 
after. Enough that he sent away his Indian guides 
well satisfied with the commodities substituted for 
the great guns and the grindstone. Nor does it 
anywhere appear that Powhatan was any whit less 
contented with what he received, than his messen- 
gers with what they bore. 



LIFE OF CAFIAIN JOHN SMITH. I57 



BOOK THIRD. 



CHAPTEE I. 

The captivity of Smith among the people of Pow- 
hatan lasted for nearly seven weeks. Though pain- 
fully, this time was not unprofitably spent. Habit- 
ually a close observer, he gathered a very large 
amount of useful knowledge from the Indians; 
learned to comprehend their modes of thinking and 
feeling ; to trace their motives ; to analyze their 
arts ; and to fathom, with great sagacity, their gen- 
eral character. That he mistakes frequently, and 
misrepresents, is to be expected from his imperfect 
knowledge of their language, and from the policy of 
the savage, who is cautious, circumspect, and pe- 
culiarly anxious to avoid examination. Smith finds 
them brave, capable of great endurance, a simple 
but a shrewd people, and cunning and treacherous, as 
all inferior people are apt to prove themselves when 
brought into contact with a superior. If anything, 
he undervalues them, and withholds a proper ac- 
knowledgment of their virtues. He was quite too 
much the soldier of that period to escape the usual 
prejudices of the class, and cannot well be expected 
to think well of a race by whom he expects momently 
to be eaten — sacrificed to their hideous god, Avith 
an unpronounceable name, Quioughquosickee ; their 
Devil, as Dr. Simons writes, but most likely their 
god of physic. Setting forth with a notion very 



158 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

coinmon at that time in the European world, that 
the savages of the unknown regions are generally 
cannibals, he looks with a jaundiced eye, and with 
growing "suspicion of their objects, even when they 
are practising the highest virtues of hospitality and 
society. It is because of prejudices such as these, 
that the mild European became himself so frequently 
a savage when he found himself in contact with the 
wild and wicked inhabitants of the western world. 
Smith despised the race because of their feebleness 
and unperformance ; and feared and hated them be- 
cause of their supposed indulgence in habits and 
practices, from which subsequent experience shows 
that tbey were perfectly free. Eut, in their power, 
he was sagacious enough to betray none of these 
prejudices or passions. He could play the politician, 
when it served his turn, as well as the soldier ; and 
the stroke of death once suspended by the interpo- 
sition of Pocahontas, he puts forth all the cunning 
of his right hand, to maintain him.self in the position 
of favor which he has so unexpectedly won. He 
flattered the pride of Powhatan, and conciliated the 
stranger chiefs around him. He was soon enabled 
to observe what were the distinguishing traits of 
the savage, and to ascertain in what respects they 
were peculiarly susceptible. To their vanity, which 
is strong in the Indian bosom, he made judicious 
appeals; and, while flattering their self-esteem, he 
contrived very happily to impress them with ad- 
miration of his own wonderful resources. To make 
them feel and respect his importance, without sub- 
jecting their own vanity to mortification, might bo 
a matter of some difficulty ; but, as his experience 
proved it was not an impossible one. 

To us, with our better knowledge of the Indians 
and the country than he could possibly have acquired 
then, his description of these objects can possess 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 159 

but little value. We refer to them now only to 
show how vigilant was his observation, and how 
o-enerally extensive and correct. But the knowledge 
which he thus obtained was of vast service m his 
dav, to the colony, and of very considerable interest 
in 'Europe, in correcting the erroneous impressions 
which were generally alSoat in regard to the Ameri- 
can aborigines. To the colony it came at an auspi- 
cious juncture, as it occasioned renewed confidence 
in an enterprise which, in the treaty of amnesty and 
amity made with Powhatan, seemed to have received 
the last essential and desirable sanction. Nor did 
events for some time contradict the sanguine assur- 
ances of Smith, and the eager hopes of his people. 
The Indians seemed all of a sudden to have reformed 
the usual caprice of their character. The intimacy 
beo'un with Powhatan was kept ahve by a frequent 
interchange of good offices between the parties^, 
and the young maiden, Pocahontas, with her attend- 
ants, made frequent visits to Jamestown, bringing 
with her such abundant supphes of provision, that 
hunger and the dread of starvation was no longer 
the object of terror amon^the doubting and the dis- 
contented. The visits of Pocahontas are described, 
at this period, as occurring every four or five days. 
Female, and childish, and savage curiosity were all 
no doubt combined in effecting this intimacy, and 
the provisions were, in all probability, only brought 
as a pretext for the visit. But other Indians came 
daily, all bringing something in the shape of food, 
either ac gifts from Powhatan or Pocahontas, or as 
their own tribute to the superior genius of the man, 
who, to employ the language of one of the narra- 
tives before us, " had so inchanted these poore soules 
being their prisoner."* The arrival of Captain 
* Chaps, iii., iv., and v. of the " Discoveries and Accidents," 
ascribed to Walter Russell, Anas Todkill, and Thomas Momf ord. 



160 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Newport just about the time when Smith had 
assured them he would come, increased their confi- 
dence in his wonderful superiority ; and, regarding 
him as an oracle, he brought them to such a degree 
of submission that "he might command them at 
w^hat he listed ; " and in this deference they came 
habitually to acknowledge the God of the Christians, 
whom they spoke of commonly as the " God of Cap- 
taine Smith." To Smith indeed, and to him only, 
all their reverence was shown. It w^as not until he 
made his appearance that they could be persuaded 
to approach the fort ; but in the cover of the woods 
they remained, calling him by name, and coming 
forward as soon as he showed himself at the en- 
trance. IS'othing would they sell till they had 
placed all that they had at his discretion. He 
affixed the prices to their commodities, and with 
these they always seemed very well satisfied. This 
attachment, so confiding and extreme, on the part of 
those who had always shown themselves so jealous 
and suspicious in their intercourse with strangers, 
became a new subject of annoyance to the vain men, 
the malcontents within the fort, by whom the abili- 
ties of Smith were always decried, and his power so 
frequently resisted. His estimation among the sav- 
ages was a subject of envy among his Christian 
brethren in council, some of whom were at the pains 
to labor diligently in the endeavor to dispossess the 
Indians of their overweening attachment for their 
associate. In this labor of love their objects w^ere 
promoted greatly by the looseness and indulgence 
w^hich followed upon the arrival of JS^ewport's ves- 
sels. ]^ew faces from the mother country, with the 
fresh supplies which they brought, occasioned such 
general gratification, that the mariners were suffered 
the freedom of the settlement. They soon ruined 
the market with the Indians. Smith fiad prudently 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 161 

rated the wares of the English at the values set upon 
them by the Indians themselves ; the desires of the 
purchaser constituting the standard by which the 
worth of the commodity was to be measured. By 
this means, maize, beans, and venison, the usual arti- 
cles brought for sale by the savages, were easily 
procured with small quantities of European goods. 
But the profligacy of the seamen soon defeated all 
the prudent policy of Smith, and rendered it easy to 
persuade the Indians of the mistake which they had 
made in so highly esteeming his power. It was soon 
found that a pound of copper could not now buy the 
grain which an ounce could formerly procure ; and 
the greatness of Smith sunk completely out of sight 
in the vast stature which Captain Newport acquired 
among the traders of Powhatan. Thus, says our 
author quaintly, "' ambition and sufferance cut the 
throat of our trade." 

Such being the condition of affairs, our hero per- 
suaded Captain Newport that a visit to Powhatan 
himself, at Werowocoraoco, Avould be a proper and 
advantageous proceeding. It was desirable to im- 
press that savage chieftain with a high idea of the 
power of the English people. It was also highly 
important to confirm the good understanding, and 
to extend the intercourse which had been established 
between the parties. Newport concurred with 
Smith in this policy, and sending certain presents to 
Powhatan, as from Newport, Smith advised the 
former of the projected visit. For this, prepara- 
tions were at once made on both sides. The pin- 
nace was prepared, and Smith and Newport, with 
some thirtv or forty chosen men, as a guard, pro- 
ceeded towards Werowocomoco, provided with the 
usual articles of Indian traffic. As they drew nigh 
to the immediate territories of Powhatan, the good 
Captain Newport, who had no sort of experience as 
II 



Ig2 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

an Indian fighter, or perhaps as a fighter of any kind, 
began to entertain some misgivings as to the pru- 
dence of the adventure. He had heard a great deal 
of Indian treachery, and his apprehensions of danger 
increased with his meditations upon what he had 
heard. He soon suffered Smith to see that he was 
exceedingly reluctant at being caught in a predica- 
ment, such as that from which the latter had so re- 
cently and narrowly escaped. His knight-errantry 
was not of a sort to be easily reconciled to the peril, 
by the possible pleasant romance which might attend 
his rescue from it ; and it tasked all the argument 
of Smith to persuade him to a continuance of ^.he 
project. There were certain appearances about the 
shores of Werowocomoco, which, in particular, 
alarmed his fears. The landing was not a good one, 
creeks were to be crossed, and over these the Indians 
had thrown some rude contrivances in the fashion 
of a bridge, which, to the suspicious eyes of New- 
port, seemed neither more nor less than traps, in 
which, when his legs were once fairly entangled, 
his overthrow and execution were easy. We can 
very well fancy with what difficulty a veteran like 
Smith concealed his scorn at this show of imbecility. 
He, at length, as little troubled by fears of personal 
danger, or of any sort, as any man, dead or living, 
volunteered, at the head of twenty men of the party, 
to go ahead, and "encounter the worst that could 
happen." To this arrangement Newport consented, 
and while he remained in the pinnace, with one-half 
of the force. Smith set out with his " twenty shot 
armed in Jacks," * and going ashore, was met by a 
number of the Indians, among whom was the king's 
son, Nantaquis, the chief by whom he had been cap- 

* Mnil, or quilted jackets, p:enerally in modern times? a 
merely padded garment, affording partial protection against 
Indian arrows. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 163 

tured, and many other persons of distinction. These 
accompanied him on his journey, though Smith so 
contrived to intermingle with his own men, the 
king's son and their chiefs, as, in the event of any 
mischief, to have them sufficient!}^ in his power to 
enable him to control their followers through their 
fears. His caution seems to have been unnecessary. 
Their progress was unembarrassed, and the behavior 
of the Indians was equally kind and unexceptionable. 

Powhatan received our hero with a great show 
of rejoicing and state. "Sitting upon his bed of 
mats, his pillow of leather imbroidered (after their 
rude manner, with pearle and white beads), his attyre 
a fine robe of skinnes, as large as an Irish mantell ; 
at his head and feete a handsome younge woman ; 
on each side his house sat twentie of his concubines, 
their heads and shoulders painted red, with a great 
chaine of white beades about each of their neckes. 
Before those sat his chiefest men, in like order in 
his arbour-like house, and more than fortie platters 
of fine bread stood as a guard in two fyles on each 
side the doore. Foure or five hundred people made 
a guard behinde them for our passage, and procla- 
mation was made, none upon paine of death to pre- 
sume to do us any wrong or discourtesie." 

This certainly shows well for the barbaric state 
of the forest chieftain. It is not difficult to beheve 
that Smith spoke without exaggeration when, de- 
scribing the noble appearance of this proud savage, 
he says, " it is of such a majestic as I cannot well 
expre'sse, nor yet have often seene, either in Pagan 
or Christian. With a kind countenance he bade all 
welcome, and caused a place to bee made by him- 
selfe to sit." Smith presented him with a suit of 
red cloth, a white greyhound, and a hat. These 
were welcomed with an address, in which they were 
kindly accepted, in proof of the perpetual friendship 



164 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

which was to exist between the parties. Water was 
brought for the ablutions of the guest, and food was 
set before him. " But where is 3^our father ? " mean- 
ing Newport, was the demand of Powhatan. Smith 
promised that he should see him the next day. The 
next question was propounded with a merry coun- 
tenance. " Where are the great guns which 3^ou 
promised me when you went to Paspahegh ? " Pow- 
hatan Avas prepared for the answer. He had heard 
from his trusty messenger Kawhunt, what had been 
the difficulty in bringing them ; and when Smith 
told him that his guns had proved too great for his 
people's shoulders, he laughed heartily, but con- 
cluded with demanding, in place of them, some of a 
less burden. The twenty followers of Smith were 
then brought before him. They had been well 
instructed by Smith to maintain a vigilant watch, 
even while making their obeisance. They received 
each of them an ample supply of food, and Smith 
then reminded Powhatan of the corn and land which 
he had promised him. " He tolde me I should have 
it, but he expected to have all these men lay their 
arms at his feete, as did his subjects. I tolde him 
that was a ceremonie our enemies desired, but never 
our friends." Smith proceeded to exhort him not 
to doubt the friendship of the English ; that on the 
ensuing day Captain Newport, his father, would 
confirm his assurances to this effect, and would be- 
stow upon him a child of his own, in proof of his 
sincerity ; and that whenever he, Powhatan, should 
be prepared for the enterprise, he should put under 
bis subjection the territories of his worst enemies, 
the Monacans and Pocoughtronachs. These assur- 
ances highly delighted the Emperor, who at once, 
in a loud oration, created the speaker a Werowance 
or chief of Powhatan. The conference was much 
more prolonged, but entirely to the same effect, and, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 165 

with the warmest assurances of friendship on both 
sides, the parties separated. But the ebbing of the 
tide preventing Smith from regaining the pinnace 
that night, he returned to the hospitalities of Pow- 
hatan, who was again delighted to receive him, and 
their conference was resumed " with many pretty 
discourses." The day was fairly spent in speeches 
and feasting, interspersed with sports, with dancing 
and singing, and such like mirth. " A great house, 
sufficient to harbor the whole of his men," was as- 
signed to Smith, and a quarter of venison sent him 
" to stay his stomache." His supper, which was 
taken at the table of Powhatan, was a much more 
serious business. " He set before mee meate for 
twentie men, and seeing I coulde not eate, hee caused 
it to be given to my men ; for this is a general cus- 
tom, when they give, not to take again, but you 
must either eate it, give it away, or carr}^ it with 
you." Two or three hours after supper were " spent 
in our ancient discourses, which done, I was with a 
fire sticke (pine torch) lighted to my lodgings." 
Early the next day, Powhatan conducted Smith to 
the banks of the river, and made a display to him 
of his numerous canoes, — a fleet of which the savage 
king thought quite as proudly, no doubt, as our pro- 
vincials before the American Ee volution thought of 
that of George the Third. The various uses to which 
they were put, were detailed particularly to his 
hearers. Some of them were especially employed 
in bringing him tribute from the subject tribes along 
the Chesapeake. Some countries paid him in beads, 
others in skins, and others again in copper. While 
engaged in this survey, they descried Captain New- 
port approaching from the pinnace ; upon which, 
leaving Smith to conduct his coadjutor to his royal 
presence, Powhatan retired, that he might place 
himself in his usual state array for a royal reception. 



166 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

The English captain was no doubt exceedingly 
anxious about the absence of Smith. How he him- 
self had slept was exceedingly doubtful. In all 
probability, a confused murmur of Indian song and 
festivity had been ringing in his ears and through 
his dreams all night, faint echoes of the merriment 
which welcomed his comrade in the tents of Pow- 
hatan. This, it is possible that he construed into 
the song of sacrifice over the dismembered carcass 
of his comrade. That he found him alive and in 
good spirits when he came ashore, was no doubt 
a subject of equal satisfaction to both. They ap- 
proached the royal residence to the sound of trum- 
pets, and with as much state as they could summon 
for the occasion. Their appearance before the king 
was hailed, as was that of Smith on the previous 
day, with shouts and acclamations. Then followed 
speeches from various chiefs, full of professions of 
good faith and fellowship. Powhatan, in the lan- 
guage of one of our authors, "strained himself to 
the utmost of his greatnesse to entertaine his dis- 
tinguished guests." The proud savage was not to 
be outdone in bravery by the more courtly Eu- 
ropeans. State and ceremonial were, indeed, much 
more natural to him than to any of his visitors. ' , He 
was born " in the purple," and it appears from all 
testimonies that his ordinary carriage would have 
done honor to that of any of the oldest houses of 
Europe. His manner of reception did not differ in 
any respect from that of the preceding day. He 
occupied his place of state, and was surrounded, as 
before, by his chiefs and an imposing array of young 
women. His reception of Newport was frank and 
generous. Food and refreshments, the song and the 
dance, were employed to grace the favor which the 
Emperor vouchsafed to the strangers; and these 
civilities were followed by pledges of amity which 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 167 

it would be difficult to persuade modern philan- 
thropy to sanction. A Avhite boy named Thomas 
Salvage, whom Newport did not hesitate to call his 
son, was presented to Powhatan ; the Indian king, 
in return, bestowing upon the English captain a 
native lad named Namontack, "for his trustie serv- 
ant ; " who is described as of " shrewd and subtill 
capacitie." 

In this interchange of courtesies that day passed, 
the English returning at night to their pinnace. 
The day following, their conferences were resumed. 
Powhatan, having entertained them with breakfast, 
reproached them for bringing their arms to the 
interview. He pointed them to his followers, all of 
whom appeared without weapons. Was he not 
their friend? AVhat did they doubt? What fear? 
Why this distrust ? Smith answered that it was 
the custom of their country ; but to quiet his appre- 
hensions, Newport caused his soldiers to retire to 
the water side ; and, to prevent evil, Smith accom- 
panied them. But this did not satisfy Powhatan. 
He was not disposed to suffer the absence of Smith 
from his immediate scrutiny. To please him, Mr. 
Scrivener, one of the council, and an intelligent 
gentleman, who had arrived with Newport from 
England, was sent to take Smith's place. But such 
an arrangement was scarcely more satisfactory to 
the wily savage than the other ; and the attempt to 
pacify him by such proceedings was suspended in 
order to try the effect of a vigorous traffic, and by 
these means the suspicions of Powhatan, if he really- 
entertained them, were baffled and diverted. Three 
or four days were consumed, and not unpleasantly, 
in this sort of intercourse. Songs and speeches, feast- 
ing and dancing, with now and then a little traffic, 
admirably relieved the monotony of this state and 
diplomatic intercourse. In all this time, says our 



leS LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

author, " Powhatan carried himselfe so proudly, yet 
discreetly (in his salvage manner), as made us all 
admire his naturall gifts, considering his education." 
He himself scorned to trade as did his subjects. 

" It is not agreeable to my greatness," he said to 
l^ewport, " to traffic for trifles in this peddling 
manner. You, too, I esteem also as a great Wero- 
wance.* Therefore, lay me downe all your com- 
modities together. What I like I will take, and in 
recompense give you what I thinke their fitting 
value." 

Smith was the interpreter betw^een the parties, 
and it speaks wonderfully for his great facility that 
so short an acquaintance with the Indians had 
enabled him to be so. He at once detected the 
cunning policy of Powhatan, admirably disguised in 
this majestic carriage, and he warned 'ISTewport that 
his purpose was only to cheat him of his goods. But 
Newport, not to be outbraved in this ostentation 
of magnificence, and thinking that he should effect- 
ually bewitch the Indian Emperor by his bounty, 
at once laid his stores before him as he had de- 
manded. The issue was just what had been predicted. 
Powhatan took what he pleased ; and, in bestowing 
his recompense in turn, valued his maize at such a 
price as to extort from our Captain the opinion that 
the article was to be had on better terms, " even in 
Spaine." Instead of twenty hogsheads, which the 
same were expected to produce, the stately monarch 
assigned to the astounded Newport something less 
than four bushels. Newport could not conceal his 
chagrin. He had been effectually outwitted. His 
stores were exhausted, his supplies were yet to be 
procured, and the savage chieftain was as insatiate 
in his appetite as ever. The English captain lost 
his temper, and some unkindness followed between 
* Prince or chief. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 169 

Smith and himself, in consequence, in all probability, 
of the reproaches of the latter. But our adventurer, 
who better knew the nature of the savage than 
Newport, had his revenge upon Powhatan. He 
contrived, without seeming to design it, to suffer 
various trifles, which were novelties, to glitter in the 
eyes of the voracious savage. Among these were 
certain blue beads, such as had never before been 
seen at Werowocomoco. These caught the fancy 
of our forest monarch. But Smith shook his head 
in denial. These were very precious jewels, " com- 
posed of a most rare substance, of the color of the 
skyes, and not to be worn but b}^ the greatest kings 
of the world." The pride of Powhatan was piqued ; 
his passions excited ; and in due degree with the 
reluctance of Smith to sell, was the increase of his 
importunacy to buy. The wary Captain played with 
his game at his leisure, until it " made him halfe 
madde to be the owner of such strange Jewells ; " 
and he succeeded finally in procuring a pound or 
two of them, but only at the expense of two or 
three hundred bushels of corn. Blue beads rose 
prodigiously in value. Opechancanough, one of the 
brothers of Powhatan, became the purchaser of a 
small supply at the same royal prices ; and such at 
length became the estimation in which they were 
held, " that none durst weare any of them but their 
greate kings, their wives and children," 



170 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER 11. 

Powhatan did not suffer the cupidity of the trader 
to abridge the hospitalities of the prince. Though 
Smith had driven a hard bargain with him in the 
matter of the blue beads, he was yet particularly 
indulgent to that personage, who sometimes lingered 
in his tents after nightfall, and long after the more 
nervous Newport had gone aboard his pinnace. 
When it so happened that the ebb of the tide required 
the English to regain their pinnace before the usual 
dinner hour, the savage u'onarch sent their feast of 
bread and venison after them, in quantities equal to 
the wants of thrice their number. To the last he 
betrayed an impatience of their weapons. Whether 
it was that he really distrusted th'em, or wliether, 
as is more probable,* he designed to miake himself 
master of their commodities without being compelled 
to supply his own, and could only hope to do so in 
the absence of the murderous instruments of war 
that the English carried, is matter for conjecture. 
Smith invariably contrived, without directly show- 
ing his apprehensions, to thwart his Avishes in this 
particular. On one occasion, that of the last day of 
the visit, Powhatan sent his son on board the pinnace 
at an early hour, to entreat that the}^ w^ould not 
bring their pieces with them, lest his women should 
be frightened. But Smith, even against Newport's 
opinion, contrived to carry with him twenty-live 
shot. Powhatan took a special dislike to Smith's 
sword and ynstol, and importuned him, in particular, 
to leave them in the pinnace. "But these," said 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 171 

our hero, significantly, " were the very terms of 
parsuasion employed by those who afterwards be- 
trayed us, and slew my brother." The women do 
not seem to have been frightened ; and the day 
passed as before. The trade in blue beads was as 
lively as ever : large quantities — speaking with due 
regard to the extreme value, and great rareness of 
the article — changed hands, and the barge of the 
English was nearly freighted with provisions. The 
weather became unfavorable; and it was midnight, 
and after great exposure to wind and rain, besides 
being nearly swamped in the oozy embraces of a 
marsh, before Smith, and the parties under his im- 
mediate command, could regain the vessel. The next 
morning was given to their parting interview\ At 
their meeting, Powhatan, " with a solemne dis- 
course," dismissed all his women and the ordinary 
attendants, suffering none to remain but his prin- 
cipal chiefs. He then referred to what Smith had 
hinted of their purpose to invade the Monacans, his 
enemies. lie informed them that he was not openly 
the enemy of this people ; that there vras peace be- 
tween them ; but that he was not unwilling to do a 
little towards giving them trouble and discomfort. 
He would first send out his spies to see in what 
condition the Monacans stood ; what was their 
strength and ability ; and how far prepared against 
invasion. 

Politicians seem to be pretty much the same per- 
sons in all countries. Metternich and Talleyrand, 
Peel or Guizot, could not have declared themselves 
in more diplomatic language. 

" You and I," he said to Captain Newport, '^ can- 
not be seen in the business. We are great chiefs, 
and must stay at home. But Smith and Scrivener 
on your side, and Opechancanough and my two sons 
on mine, can manage all this business." — This, if not 



172 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

the language of the old despot, was pretty much 
what he meant to say. We have quoted in our own 
terms the very substance of his speech. He added, 
that the King of Pamaunkee should have from hira 
one hundred of his warriors to commence the cam- 
paign. They should set forth as upon a hunting 
expedition, advising the English at what proper 
time to strike the blow. One hundred, or one 
hundred and fifty of the white soldiers, he judged 
would be sufficient for the exploit. For his own 
part, his desires for the spoils were moderate. He 
was content to have the women and the young 
children who were made captives. The men were 
to be slain. 

His fair assurances, and the vague particulars 
which he gave of great seas in the rear of his im- 
mense territories, with other details which J^ewport 
linked with a partial knowledge already in his own 
mind, persuaded that excellent person to believe, 
that, by this famous scheme for the overthrow of 
the Monacans, he was destined to penetrate, by a 
short cut, to the Avaters of the South Sea ; an ob- 
ject, at that time, the great maritime passion of 
Europe. 

From Werowocomoco the English proceeded to 
the domains of Opechancanough^ where they were 
welcomed with a courtesy like that which had 
hitherto attended their progress. To this place 
Powhatan sent to solicit their return. He had 
received tidings that new supplies had reached them 
from Jamestown, and he was anxious to make a 
second princely bargain with his brother Werowance, 
Newport. But Opechancanough was not willing 
to give them up. As one likely to have more in- 
fluence than any other messenger, Powhatan sent a 
second entreaty by his daughter Pocahontas. Of 
her nothing has been seen or said in either of our 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. I73 

narratives, during the late stay of the English at 
"Werowocomoco. Doubtless she was with the women 
in immediate attendance upon the king ; but her 
extreme youth might have kept her out of sight. 
For the same reason she may have been chosen as 
his messenger. Had she been older, her father 
would scarcely have periled her charms, remote 
from his own protection, in the rude contact with a 
strange people. As it was, she probably came well 
attended. Her presence had the desired effect ; and 
after staying two days with Opechancanough they 
returned to Werowocomoco, exchanged new cour- 
tesies with Powhatan — probably made new bargains, 
but of these we have no mention — and receiving 
from him a present of another Indian, took their 
departure, after exchanging many protestations of 
friendship and fidelity. The Indian thus given by 
Powhatan was intended to be sent to England. His 
private instructions from Powhatan were to report 
the strength in people of that country, and the 
wealth and magnitude thereof. In attempting this, 
at a subsequent period, the poor Indian procured 
himself a stick the moment he arrived in London, 
and a notch in the stick was made at every new 
face he met. But he soon gave up the task in de- 
spair ; assuring Powhatan on his return to Virginia, 
that the English were as numerous as the leaves on 
the tree, and the sands on the sea shore. 

Some little time was spent on their return, in 
diving into the bowels of a rock, the appearances 
about which led them to conjecture that it contained 
a mineral treasure. Though Smith dug in compli- 
ance with Newport's wishes, he yet discouraged the 
labor as perverse and fruitless. It seems to have 
been worse than useless. " Our guilded refiners," 
says one of our narratives, " with their golden prom- 
ises made all men their slaves, in hope of recom- 



174 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

penses ; there was no talke, no hope, no worke, but 
dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, loade gold ; such a 
bruit of gold that one mad fellow desired to be 
buried in the sands, least they should, by their art, 
make gold of his bones." " Were it that Captain 
Smith would not applaud all these golden inventions, 
because they admitted him not to the sight of their 
trials, nor golden consultations, I know not, but I 
have heard him oft question with Captaine Martin^ 
and tell him except he could show him a more sub- 
stantiall triall, he was not inamoured with their durty 
skill, breathing out these and many other passions, 
never anything did more torment him than to see 
all necessary business neglected, to fraught such a 
drunken ship with so much guilded durt." 

To a man of experience and good sense, certainly, 
nothing could have been more annoying than to 
witness the fruitless labors of these grown children, 
prosecuted with so much confidence and zeal, at the 
expense not only of their own, but of the vital in- 
terest of the colony. But he was compelled to 
groan in secret at this folly. Captain Newport 
himself was caught and deluded by this insane pas- 
sion, though, says our author, with a sly sarcasm, 
"we never accounted Captain Nev/port a refiner." 
But this was not the whole of the evil which just 
then afflicted the colony, and the resolute heart 
which we have learned to regard as its real founder 
and support. His trading voyage for corn to 
Werowocomoco was, soon after his return, shorn of 
all its fruits by improvidence and accident. The 
grain thus procured was stored away with the rest 
in the common granaries. The winter (1607) was 
one of extreme severity. The am pie forests around 
our colonists made them profligate in the use of fire. 
The consequence was, that the town, the houses of 
which were wholly of wood, and thatched with reeds 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 1Y6 

and brush, was set on fire, and the flames raged with 
such rapidity as to destroy their dwelhngs. Their 
jrranarv, with all their provisions, was consumed ; 
the fire even seized upon, and destroyed their pahsa- 
does. Among the sufferers, " Good Master Hunt 
our Preacher, lost all his library, and all he had but 
the cloathes on his backe ; yet none never heard 
him repine at his losse." This worthy clergyman, 
of whom such good report is made, was the same 
who, it will be remembered, exerted himself so 
worthily to compose and subdue the discontent 
which prevailed among the colonists on shipboard 
durino* the first voyage out. The testimony is uni- 
formly in his favor, as a wise and pious Christian. 
The loss of his books, in such a region, was one of 
those trials of the soul which Providence employs 
for its better strength and purification. That none 
should ever hear him repine is sufficient proof that 
the ends of punishment had been obtained. 

Smith was a less patient man. His vocation was 
that of the reformer rather than the preacher. He 
could better scourge than entreat or expostulate, 
and his temper was in no respect improved while 
Newport and his mariners remained in the colony. 
The wretched passion after gold dust detamed the 
ship fourteen weeks, when she should have been 
despatched in fourteen days. The consequence was, 
that the seamen consumed the provisions which 
were provided for the colony, and required to be 
supplied besides for the return voyage. Other evils 
had followed from its presence. " Those persons, 
says Smith, " who had either money, spare clothes, 
credit for bills of exchange, gold rings, furs, or any 
such valuable commodities, were always welcome to 
this floating tavern. Such was their necessity and 
misfortune, to be under the lash of those vile com- 
manders, and to buy their own provisions at litteen 



176 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

times their value ; suffering them to feast at their 
charge, whilst themselves were obliged to fast, and 
yet dare not repine lest they should incur the cen- 
sure of being factious and seditious persons. By 
these means and management the colony was rather 
burdened than relieved, by the vast charges of the 
ship ; and being reduced to meal and water, and 
exposed, by the loss of their town, to the most bittter 
cold and frost, above half of them died. Smith in- 
deed, and Scrivener, endeavored to correct all abuses, 
and to put things into a better posture; but they 
could do nothing to effect, being overpowered by 
the president and his party, who had long before 
this laid their difference to Smith's judgment and 
management." It was some consolation to our ad- 
venturer that he could send off with the vessel for 
England, those lawyers whom he had " laid by the 
heels" for seeking to circumvent and make him 
liable under the provisions of the LeviticfJ law. 
'' We not having any use of Parliaments, Plaises 
(pleadings perhaps), Petitions, admiralty Eecorders, 
interpreters, Clvy^onologers^ Courts of Pleas, nor 
Justices of the Peace, sent Martin Wingfield and 
Captain Archer home with him, that had ingrossed 
all these titles, to seeke some better place of im- 
ployment." 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 177 



CHAPTER III. 

l^EWPORT at length took his departure, to the 
relief of some and disquiet of other parties. Smith, 
in his shallop, accompanied him to the mouth of the 
Chesapeake. A parting gift for the voyager came 
from Powhatan, in the shape of twenty fat turkeys, 
for which, however, he claimed as many swords, by 
way of remembrance and consideration. This de- 
mand Newport imprudently complied with. Pow- 
hatan soon discovered the superior value of the 
Enoiish weapon to his own, and this knowledge was 
the"^ source of much evil to the colonists at a later 
period. Newport fairly at sea. Smith returned to 
Jamestown, stopping for a brief period on his way 
at the territories of the King of Nansemond, ^yho had 
been hitherto hostile, and making a treaty with him. 
The prospect at Jamestown was little encouraging. 
The hamlet was in great part in ruins, and the coer- 
cive mind of Smith was not in the ascendant. The 
president, Radcliffe and Captain Martin, supported 
by a strong and wily faction, carried things after 
their own fashion, the public stores were withheld 
from public use, and made the subject of private 
barter for the benefit of these parties. They used 
the common stock as if it w-ere so much personal 
revenue. Doubtless, if there had been any prospect 
of success in opposition. Smith was the man to have 
tried his strength against these profligates, we 
have seen sufficient proof of his resolute will and 
fierce determination to effect the right, whenever 
the probabilities were at all favorable to his en- 

12 



178 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

deavors. But he had also the admirable judgment 
which declares the proper time to strike; and yield- 
ing the struggle for the present, he contented him- 
self, supported by Mr. Scrivener and others, in 
amending the evils of the existing government so 
far as lay in his power. With the approach of 
spring, he took charge of the corn-fields, prepared 
them, and set a crop. This done, he applied himself 
to the rebuilding of the town, restoring first the 
church, the storehouses and the fortifications. 
While thus engaged, the colony was excited anew 
by the arrival of the Phoenix, a barque commanded 
by Captain Nelson, which had been separated from 
Newport in a storm, driven to the West Indies, and 
given up for lost. This vessel brought supplies of 
provisions for six months, and, an acquisition equally 
important, an addition to the force of the colony of 
no less than one hundred and twenty persons. It 
is to be remembered, however, that the dispropor- 
tion of gentlemen to worMngmen^ which had always 
been a source of discomfort to Smith, was again un- 
profitably large. " This happy arrival of Maister 
Nelson in the Phoenix, having been then about three 
months missing, did so lavish us with exceeding joy, 
that now we thought ourselves as our hearts coiikl 
wish, both Avith a competent number of men, as also 
for all other needful provisions," and it encouraged 
Smith to plan a journey of exploration into the sur- 
rounding country. The Monacans, into whose weak- 
ness Powhatan was willing to spy, previous to any 
attempt upon their territories, were objects of great 
curiosity to our English, and seventy men being 
selected for the purpose. Smith proceeded to train 
them for the adventure ; in six or seven days' prac- 
tise, teaching them " to march, fight, and scirmish 
in the woods, their willing mindes to this action so 
quickened their understanding in this exercise, as in 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 179 

all judgments wee were able to fight with Po whatan^s 
whole force." Here our hero was at home. His 
mind resumed its ancient vivacity in this military- 
em plo}^ Already had he prepared his plans of 
progress — assigned the proper defenses to the fort, 
arranged for his supplies of food on the march, and 
put ail things in order to his purpose, when circum- 
stances, perverse men, and perverse fortune, com- 
bined to defeat the scheme. Fears and scruples 
beset the president and others in council. Such a 
progress would be an indiscretion, would be an en- 
croachment upon the rights of Newport to whom 
only the right to prosecute such discoveries belonged. 
These scruples and objections discouraged Nelson, 
who was to have assisted in the expedition with cer- 
tain volunteer marines, and he withdrew from the 
adventure. The enterprise miscarried in spite of all 
the hopes and energies of our Captain ; and instead 
of going upon the conquest of Monacan, he was 
com|)eired to remain at the fort, contending with the 
follies of the council on the one hand, and the In- 
dians of Powhatan on the other. Smith was for 
filling the Phoenix with cedar on her return voyage, 
while Captain Martin " was opposite to anything, 
but onely to fraught this ship with his phantasticall 
gold;" "and though the more sensible suggestion 
prevailed, yet it called for all the resolution and 
diligence of Smith, seconded by Nelson, Scrivener, 
and others, to carry their object, and to make the 
lading of a commodity, which we are told " was a 
present despatch "—of ready sale—" than either with 
durt, or the hopes and reports of an uncertaine dis- 
covery (the gold mine), which he woulde_ performe 
when they hadde less charge and more leisure." 

While our Captain was thus busy in freighting 
the Phoenix, and rebuilding the settlement, a sur- 
prising change took place in the behavior of the In- 



180 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

dians. This capricious people, late so friendl}^, be- 
gan to show themselves troublesome at first, and 
finally hostile. The first signs of this change took 
place in consequence of a disappointment of Pow- 
hatan. Finding it so easy to procure English 
swords from Newport in exchange for the fat turkeys 
of Werowocomoco, he tried Smith in the same 
manner ; sending him twenty of these fowls, and 
demanding certain weapons for them in exchange. 
But Smith was not the man to respect the error of 
Newport. He paid for the turkeys in any coin but 
that which the savage chief desired. Powhatan had 
set his heart upon these weapons and his people, 
v/hether positively instructed, or simply anxious to 
serve their master in a manner that would please 
him undertook by twenty characteristic devices to 
obtain them. First they resorted to simple thieving, 
a method which seems to have been practised more 
or less b\^ every primitive people from the begin- 
ning of time. They were frequent visitors at James- 
town, and bore away with them whatever they 
could secrete. Impunity made them bolder. The 
tools of the workmen disappeared, and the same 
thief who had been caught one day in the act, was 
neither afraid nor ashamed to make the same at- 
tempt the next. What they steal, says Smith, 
" their king receiveth." This high sanction in- 
creased their audacity. Too closely watched for 
their wonted sleight*^ of hand, they grew bold 
to take by violence what they could not obtain by 
skill. " By ambuscadoes at our very ports, they 
would take them perforce, surprise us at worke, or 
any way ; which was so long permitted, the}^ be- 
came so insolent there was no rule ; the command 
from England was so strait not to offend them, as 
our authoritie-bearers (keeping their houses *) would 
* In safety themselves. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 181 

rather be anything than peace- breakers. This 
charitable humor prevailed, till well it chanced 
they meddled with Captaine Smith, who, without 
farther deliberation, gave them such an encounter " 
as soon brought a remedy for the mischief. Two 
swords having been stolen, he caught the offender 
and clapt him in the bilboes. When let out he dis- 
appeared for a time, but soon returned with three 
others armed with wooden swords. Smith ordered 
them to depart, but, flourishing their sw^ords in his 
face, they bade him defiance. Without waiting for 
them to strike, our ready soldier answered their 
flourish with a blow. This the others offered to re- 
venge, but Smith fell upon them, and, smiting hip 
and thigh, drove them from the premises. Then 
getting together half a dozen soldiers, without ask- 
ing or waiting for orders, he sallied forth, and drove 
their lurking parties entirely from the island. 

This decision produced for the time an excellent 
effect. The Indians became modest and concilia- 
tory. The King of Nansemond, who lived thirty 
miles from the settlement, sent back a hatchet that 
had been stolen ; and such Indians as had been em- 
ployed upon the wears (fish traps) of the English 
but had temporarily abandoned them for the more 
honorable business of stealing, voluntarily came back, 
made their submission, and resumed their labors. 
But the caprice of the savages would not allow 
them to remain pacific long. They soon put them- 
selves in suspicious attitudes, and renewed their 
peculations. One of them having stolen a hatchet, 
and being pursued by Scrivener, drew his arrow to 
the head upon him ; and two of them, well armed 
and painted for war, made an attempt upon Smith, 
" circling about mee, as though they would have 
clubbed me like a hare ; " but lacking boldness, they 
suffered him to reach the fort in safety. Followed 



182 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

by these and several others within the enclosure, and 
proceeding to offer violence, Smith had the ports 
closed, and took thera into custody. Sixteen or 
eighteen were seized in this manner. This brought 
them to a parley. Ambassadors came to treat for 
the delivery of the prisoners. The answer was, 
that they should only obtain their freedom upon the 
restoration of all the swords, spades, shovels, and 
other tools which they had stolen. Failing in this, 
the ambassadors were told that the captives should 
be hung. This, of course, was a threat only. Mean- 
while, two of the Englishmen fell into the hands of 
the natives,* who at once returned in numbers to 
the gates of Jamestown, and boldly threatened re- 
taliation upon their prisoners if any of their people 
suffered harm. This threat was answered by a 
sally from Smith, who, " in lesse than an houre, so 
hanipred their insolencies, they brought then his 
two men, desiring peace without any further compo- 
sition for their prisoners.'' 

But peace was not so easily granted. The pris- 
oners were subjected to a searching examination, 
and, under the terror of death, they revealed the 
scheme of a conspiracy against the colony, which in- 
volved Powhatan and all his tributary kings. This 
conspiracy had been maturing for some time, and 
had its birth before Smith himself had been taken 
prisoner. His arrest had been in consequence of 
this combination. Their plan had subsequently aimed 
to surprise them while at work. " Powhatan, and 
all his, would seeme friends till Captaine New^jiort's 
returne," that he might recover his man Kamon- 
tack in safety. Then he was to invite Newport to 
a great feast, and take advantage of the occasion to 

* " Ranging in the woods— which mischiefeno punishment 
will prevent but hanging."— ^^mi^/i. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 183 

make him prisoner. Like devices were to involve 
other parties of the whites in a like predicament. 

Such was the amount of the confession made by 
Macanor, the counselor of Paspahegb ; a confession 
which was confirmed only in part by the statements, 
similarly extorted,* of other Indians. By these it 
was learned " that Paspahegh and Chickahammania 
did hate us, and intended some mischief, and who 
they were that tooke me, the names of them that 
stole our tooles and swords, and that Powhatan re- 
ceived them they all agreed." 

The tidings of the seizure of his subjects, their 
detention, their confession, and the constant exer- 
cise by Smith of his armed men, reached Powhatan, 
and rendered it necessary that he should be at some 
pains to disabuse the English of the unfriendly im- 
pressions which the}^ had received of his own hos- 
tility. His safety, not his character, was the source 
of his solicitude. According^, he despatched the 
boy Thomas Salvage, who had been given him by 
[Newport, with a present of turkeys, especially to 
Smith and Scrivener, who, the sagacious old savage 
had already discovered, were the two master spirits 
of the settlement. The boy thus opportunely placed 
in his hands, at a moment when there was good 
ground for suspecting the intentions of the Em- 
peror, Smith resolved to keep, and this increased the 
anxieties of the former. His next messenger be- 
trayed the extent of his fears and his cunning. 
This was the young damsel Pocahontas. " Yet he 
sent his messengers, and his dearest daughter, Fom- 
hontas, with presents to excuse him of the injuries 

* '* I bound one in hold to the maine-mast, and present- 
ing six muskets with match in the cockes, forced him," 
etc. * * * After each examination, '* certaine vollies of shot 
wee caused to be discharged, which caused each other to 
thinks that their fellowes had been slaine." — Smith, 



184 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

done by some rash untoward captaines, his sub- 
jects, desiring their liberties for this time, with the 
assurance of bis love for ever." * Smith's own nar- 
rative t is more explicit, and more ambitious, tbough 
to the same effect. " Powhatan, understanding we 
detained certain salvages, sent his daughter, a child 
oftenne years old^ which not only for feature, coun- 
tenance and proportion, much exceedeth any of the 
rest of his people, but for wit and spirit the only 
nonpareil of his country : this he sent by his most 
trustie messenger, called Eawhunt, as much exceed- 
ing in deformitie of person, but of a subtill wit and 
crafty understanding." Through these, the Em- 
peror assured Smith that he greatly loved and re- 
spected him — that he must not doubt his affection — 
in proof of which he had sent his child, whom he 
most esteemed, to see him. Such was the message 
borne by Pocahontas. She brought from her 
father, as a present, a supply of bread and a deer. 
She entreated that the captives might be spared and 
set free. She also entreated that the boy might be 
sent back to her father, as he loved him exceed- 
ingly. 

Pocahontas might well urge such a prayer to the 
man whom her own entreaties had saved from death. 
It was with a happy policy that Powhatan made 
her his ambassador. If anything could touch the 
soul of Smith, at any moment, it must have been 
the presence of such a pleader ; and how much must 
there have been of the pleasing and the tender in 
the interview between tnat young Indian child and 
the stern warrior, whose heart, in frequent trials of 
the world's strife, had perhaps grown somewhat cal- 
lous against most human -sveaknesses ! Yet he be- 
trays none of this callosity while he treats with 

*♦♦ The True Travels," etc. Richmond ed. Vol. i., p. 171. 
f " A True Relation," etc. Richmond ed. Page 81. 



LIFE OF CAPTAESr JOHN SMITH. 185 

Pocahontas. Her gentle virtues, her eager, earnest 
interest in his behalf, her extreme youth and won- 
derful beauty, which made her the nonpareil of her 
race and country — these seem to have always had 
their influence over his soul, "when she is the subject 
of consideration. He speaks of her as the dearest 
daughter, the little daughter of Powhatan ; and in 
such tender diminutives sufficiently declares the feel- 
ings of a man who was but too commonly accus- 
tomed to conceal them, '^.hat he holds her as a 
thing almost perfect, we gather from his passing 
and unaffected utterances. He does not speak of 
her ostentatiously. It is only when it belongs to 
the absolute business of the narration that he em- 
ploys her name, and then only in such manner as to 
make us regret that he does not use it more fre- 
quently. A few more passages of this description, 
and the character of Smith, which must be allowed 
to have suffered somewhat from a certain harshness 
and hardness of outline, would have had the requi- 
site softening, and we should then have been at 
some loss to discover its deficiencies. But Poca- 
hontas has her influence upon him, and it is one of 
no equivocal character. For the power of the In- 
dian sovereign, her father, his own fierce courage 
did not allow him to entertain much respect ; and, 
seeing through his faithlessness, he already half de- 
spises him. Opechancanough has his entreaties 
also, for some of the prisoners are his friends and 
subjects ; and sending his presents, seeks an inter- 
view himself with Smith, to disarm his suspicions 
and hostility. But the latter smiles grimly and 
scornfully, and yields nothing. It is only to Poca- 
hontas that he accords his prisoners. When Ope- 
chancanough and his attendants had gone, the pris- 
oners were conducted to the church, and then, after 
prayer, bestowed upon Pocahontas. It is to her 



136 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

only that they are given ; their bows, arrows, and 
all that they had when taken, are surrendered at 
the same time without conditions, " to the king's 
dauo-hter, in regard of her father's kindness in send- 
ing her." She herself was presented with certain 
trifles, which, we are told, contented her. She was 
probably contented easily. Her actions do not 
seem to have needed any less noble impulse than 
the native goodness, gentleness, and benignity of 
her character. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 187 



CHAPTER lY. 

In these decisive proceedings Smith had trespassed 
far beyond the limits of his authority. He had 
usurped the powers of the President and council in 
Yirginia, and had disobeyed the mild instructions 
which had been sent out by the proprietors in 
Eno-land. His mind was not of a sort to submit 
easily to commands which were obviously founded 
in ignorance of the facts, and to restraints which did 
not regard their necessity ; and just as little was he 
disposed to yield implicit obedience to a present 
authority which had always shown itself so impo- 
tent, at least, for good. His proceedings, though 
resulting in advantage to the colony, and though 
not a life of the Indians was taken, were met with 
rebuke and dissatisfaction among his brethren. 
" The patient councell, that nothing would move to 
warre with the salvages, w^ould gladly have wrangled 
with Captaine Smith for his crueltie ; * yet none 

* Take a sample of these cruelties, which will at the same 
time give a lively picture of the life at Jamestown. It is 
from the "True Relation," by Smith himself: "Two dales 
after a Paspeheyan came to show us a glistering minerall 
stone : and with signes demonstrating it to be in great aboun- 
dance, like unto rockes ; with some dozen more I was sent 
to seeke to digge some quantitie, and the Indian to conduct 
mee ; but suspecting this some trick to delude us, for to get 
some copper of us, or vvitli some ambuscado to betray us, see- 
ing him falter in his tale, being two miles on our way, led liim 
ashore, wliere abusing (misleading) us from place to place, 
and so seeking either to have drawn us with him into the 
woods, or to liave given us tlie slippe : I shewed him copper 
which I had promised to have given him, if he had performed 
his promise, l3ut for his scoffing and abusing us, I gave him 



188 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

was slaine [of the savages] to any man's knowledge, 
but it brought them in such fear and obedience, as 
his very name would sufficiently affright thera ; 
where before, wee had some time peace and warre 
twice in a day ; and very seldome a weeke but we had 
some treacherous villainy or other."* It was per- 

twentie lashes with a rope, and his bowes and arrowes, bid- 
ding him shoote if he durst, and so let him goe.'' It was 
rather dangerous to trifle with our Captain. He was very 
much the soldier, and the word and blow -very frequently 
went together. But we suspect that such cruelties as this 
would be practised by Christian soldiery of modern times, 
under the same provocation, to a still greater extent. At 
least, we are accustomed to hear of much worse in the wars 
of Christian Europe. 

* Here we lose all farther assistance from the narrative of 
Th. Watson, Gent, otherwise Smith himself, entitled, "A 
true relation of such occurrences and accidents of noate as 
hath happened in Virginia since the first planting of that 
coUony, whicli is now resident in the south part tliereof, till 
the last return from thence." This narrative, published at 
the time (1608), brought up the proceedings of the colony to 
the very moment when it was written. It was probably sent 
home by the Phoenix, and bears all the marks of being a very 
hurried performance. The style is very confused and cum- 
brous—the particulars not alwavs given in due order, and we 
find— a very remarkable omission— no mention made of the 
manner in which he was rescued from the executioner Pow- 
hatan by the intervention of Pocahontas. Indeed, there ap- 
pears to be some solicitude that Captain Smith should not be- 
come too conspicuous in this narrative, and hence, possibly, 
the notion of making the publication appear as the work of 
Tho. Watson— a nojn de plume, for which we now find it 
difficult to discover a necessity or motive. All reproaches of 
his colleagues and associates are spared in this performance. 
It was the ])olicy to make the settlers appear very well con- 
tented in Virginia— as in this way only could others be per- 
suaded to adventure. Hence, at the conclusion, we have a 
picture of felicity at Jamestown, very far from the truth, 
wliich must have brought them to believe in England that 
Astrcea was once more about to make her home on earth — 
" We, now remaining, being in good health, all our men well 
contented, free from mutinies, in love one with another, and 
as we hope in a continuall peace with the Indians, where, we 
doubt not, but by God's gracious assistance and the adven- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 189 

haps fortunate for Smith that the misconduct of the 
President himself, in matters which touched more 
certainlv the safetjr and well-being of the colony, 
afforded a more legitimate subject for the indigna- 
tion of their little community. The President who 
had succeeded upon the deposition of Wingfield, 
was Captain John Eadcliffe. This man was totally 
unequal to the situation, — is described as being little 
beloved — of weak judgment in time of danger — and 
of no industry in time of peace. He was sickly be- 
sides, and freely committed the responsible duties of 
his office to the hands of others. At first a portion, 
of this trust was given to Smith ; but Smith lost 
favor in his sight, and he then united himself with 
creatures who hated and dreaded the vigilance of 
our Captain, and had been his enemies from the 
outset. Eadcliffe himself had been one of these, 
and only yielded to the influence of Smith when the 
courage and peculiar energy and ability of our hero 
were necessary to the common safety. With the 
disappearance of the danger came a forgetfulness of 
his worth ; and the President sank back into the 
control of those who were willing to pander to his 
appetites. "We have seen this man, assisted by 
others, converting the stores of the community into 
a source of revenue for himself; continuing this 
practise, as if the stock were w^holly his own. So 
deeply did his rapacity trench upon ihe resources of 
the colony, as to force upon Smith and Scrivener 
the necessity of taking such order with him as to 
put a stop to his prodigality. Measures were accord- 

turers' willing mindes and speedie furtherance to so honor- 
able an action in after times to see our nation to enjoy a 
country not only exceeding pleasant for habitation, but also 
very profitable for commerce in generall, no doubt pleasing 
Almightie God, honorable to our gracious sovereign and com- 
modious generally to the whole kingdom." 



190 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ingly adopted, by which to limit him and his satel- 
lites to a certain allowance, rated proportionally 
with what was accorded to the rest. This difficulty 
being adjusted, the town rebuilt, the Indians quieted, 
the corn crop nearly made, and all through the 
strenuous exertions and manly courage of our Cap- 
tain, his eager and impatient spirit began to look 
around him seeking proper employment. He was 
not the man to rest upon his oars, his cruise being 
over, but to plan other voyages, and shape out new 
enterprises, in which his genius could find fitting 
exercise. Denied to explore the interior, and pene- 
trate to those wondrous territories of which Pow- 
hatan had given such glowing descriptions, it was 
still within the province of the settlers to explore 
the region contiguous to that in which they had 
pitched their tents. Accordingly, he meditated the 
exploration of the Bay of Chesapeake. To this no 
objection seems to have been made. The President 
Avas probably only too well pleased to be relieved 
from the vigilance of his eye, and the unbending 
rigor of his justice. His design was less adventur- 
ous, less perilous than that which he most eagerly 
desired. We have seen him training seventy men, 
with which he felt himself equal to the whole nation 
of Powhatan. He might have made his way with 
such a force across the Apalachian summits, descend- 
ing to the waters of the Mississippi. With seventy 
men Pizarro first penetrated tlie great empire of 
Peru. Our Captain was compelled to content him- 
self with a more moderate ambition. His seventy 
men were reduced to fifteen persons, himself in- 
cluded. One of these Avas a physician, six were 
gentlemen — so rated^ though we cannot well conceive 
their uses in such an expedition — and seven were 
soldiers. He left the fort on the second of June 
(1608), in an open barge of less than three tons, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 191 

burthen, and made his way, in company with the 
Phoenix, to Cape Henry, at which place he parted 
with her. Crossing the bay from this point to the 
eastern shore they made the isles which still bear 
the name of their first discoverer. Two stout sav- 
ages at Cape Charles stood armed with lances 
headed with bone, and seemed prepared to do battle 
with our explorers, demanding who they were and 
whence they came. The reply of Smith disarmed 
them, and they civilly directed him to Accomac, 
the habitation of their Werowance. Here they 
were received kindly. This chief is described as 
one of the most comely and affable savages they had 
ever met. He told Smith, among other things, of 
an event which had lately happened, which belongs 
to that class of wonders of which a superstitious 
people always make large account. Two children 
dying, " some extreame passions, or dreaming vis- 
ions, phantasies, or affection," moved their parents 
to revisit them at their place of sepulture. To 
their wonder, the faces of the children " reflected to 
the eyes of the beholders such delightful counte- 
nances, as though they had regained their vitall 
spirits. This, as a miracle, drew many to behold 
them." The consequences were fatal to all who did 
so. A plague seized upon the spectators, and but 
few escaped the mortality. In this way did the 
chief of Accomac account to Smith for the sparse- 
ness of his population. What effect this supersti- 
tion had upon his character, in producing that dig- 
nity and courtliness which we are told distinguished 
him, is a matter for conjecture. He spoke the 
language of the Powhatanese, and spoke so agree- 
ably always while describing the country, that 
Smith acknowledges it gave him exceeding pleasure 
to hear. The domain of this chief lay withm the 
southwestern part of Northampton county. 



192 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SmTH. 

From Accomac our Captain proceeded along the 
coast, " searching every inlet and bay fit for harbours 
and habitations." He was bajSied by a thnnderstorm 
in an attempt to reach certain isles which he dis- 
covered in the bay, and had a narrow escape from 
the " unmerciful raging of that ocean-like water." 
To isle and headland, names were given in this prog- 
ress, mostly chosen from the companions of our 
adventurer. Thus one day was spent. A difficulty 
in procuring fresh water caused them to turn into 
the next ea'stern channel, w^hich brought them into 
the river Pocomoke, then called Wighcomocco. 
Here they were at first threatened by the savages 
with shows of war, but the pacific aspect of the 
white men, and the judicious management of Smith, 
converted the fury of their assault into songs and 
dances, and a reception full of kindness and good 
feeling. But they got no good water here, turning 
with loathing from such puddle as was offered them 
for drink. " But before two dales were expired we 
would have refused two barricoes of gold for one of 
that puddle water of "Wighcomocco." The next 
water they found was a pond, which proved to be a 
natural hot bath, sufficiently fresh, but rather too 
warm for drinking purposes. This was upon the 
main, upon a highland, which, in compliment to an 
honorable house in France, was called Point Ployer. 
Resuming their progress, they encountered a second 
thunder-storm, if possible more terrible than the 
first ; lost mast and sails, and were so ^' over-racked " 
by such " mightie waves," that with great difficulty 
they kept their barque above the water. They suc- 
ceeded in making a port among certain uninhabited 
isles, where they were kept two days by the contin- 
uance of the storm. They called this harborage 
Port Limbo. Repairing their sails with their shirts, 
they resumed their voyage and fell in with the river 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 193 

which is now called Corghcomocco, but which then 
bore the name of Cuscarrowack. Here their pres- 
ence was a novelty and terror. The people ran in 
troops along the shores as the barque pressed for- 
ward, many getting into the tops of trees to see and 
oppose the strangers. They were not sparing of 
their arrows, and declared their hostility with the 
most passionate shows of violence. But, lying at 
anchor beyond the reach of their darts, our Captain 
contented himself with making them signs of friend- 
ship. These did not appear to produce the desired 
effect, and the day passed in continued demonstra- 
tions of hostility on the part of the natives. The 
next day they came to the river side unarmed, and 
bringing with them baskets of corn and dancing in 
a ring, the wily savages endeavored in this way to 
beguile the Englishmen ashore. But, detecting an 
ambush in a neighboring cane-brake, Smith answered 
their devices with a volley of musket-shot, which sent 
them tumbling in every direction. Then approach- 
ing the shore, after another volley had drilled the 
place of ambuscade, our Captain "^penetrated their 
habitations. Here he left some of the usual trifles, 
but not a savage was to be seen. The next day four 
of the Indians who had been fishing in the bay and 
knew nothing of what had happened, came to him 
in a canoe and had a conference. They disappeared 
and soon brought others, the number gradually in- 
creasing to two or three thousand, men, women, and 
children, each bringing a present, and each so grati- 
fied with the merest trifle in return, that a friend- 
ship was struck up between the parties, of such a 
zealous nature, that the Indians strove with one an- 
other who should fetch water for the pale-faces, be- 
come their hostages, guide them through the coun- 
try, or most content them in whatever they desired. 
Here dwelt the people of Sarapinagh, Nanse, Arseek, 
13 



194 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and Nantaquak — tribes of which there now remain 
no vestiges. Smith describes them as the best mer- 
chants among the Indians, They were the manu- 
facturers, and carried on the commerce. They had 
the finest furs and made large quantities of the best 
Boanohe. This was a sort of white bead wrought 
from shells, which served with the savages of the 
whole country as a circulating medium. It was, 
with copper, their substitute for gold and silver. 
These people were small of stature. They aroused 
Smith's curiosity in relation to a people called the 
Massawomekes, a masculine and valiant race, very 
numerous, and very powerful ; who possessed in 
large degree the amiable faculty of keeping their 
neighbors in constant apprehension. These people 
are supposed to have been those afterwards so fa 
mous in English annals as the six nations, and among 
the French as the Iroquois — the great confederacy 
of the north, whose claims to conquest — claims 
which we suspect Avere only partially founded in the 
truth — have procured for them the title of the 
Romans of America. It is very sure that their 
neighbors gave a formidable account of them. If 
Powhatan did not absolutely fear, he greatly re- 
spected them ; and what was said of them, their 
valor and resources, by the Powhatanese, provoked 
the curiosity of our Captain, and determined him, 
very much against the wishes of his companions, to 
make the discovery of their territories one of the 
grand objects of his expedition. His adventurous 
spirit panted to make the acquaintance of a nation 
sufficiently powerful to make their conquest equally 
honorable and desirable. 

From the eastern shore, which he found broken 
with uninhabited islands, and for the most part with- 
out fresh water, he stood westward across the bay 
and made the mouth of the Patuxent. For thirty 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 195 

leagues sailing northward no inhabitants were found. 
In place of these, however, tiiere were wolves, bears, 
deer, and other wild beasts in abundance, and an 
ample supply of water. Passing many shallow 
streams, the 'first they found navigable was one sup- 
posed to be the Patapsco, to which, on account of 
the appearance of the clay along the cliffs, resem- 
bling bol ammonia, they gave the name of Bolus. 
But that Smith himself has provided us with this 
derivation, we might have ascribed this infelicitous 
title to the working of a mutinous spirit among the 
gentlemen of the expedition, which broke out at this 
place. It was thought, when the voyage was JDegun, 
that it would be only too short a one to gratify the 
eager curiosity of those who were about to embark 
— that Smith would be in too great a hurry to get 
back to the colony, supposing his presence to be nec- 
essary to the proper management of affairs with 
such a person as Kadcliffe in the presidency. But 
the notion of these gallants, who were none of them 
accustomed to hardships, soon began to change 
when, at the end of twelve or fourteen days, spent 
in an open barge, weary of the oars, bread soaked 
with wet and much of ^it decayed, yet still suscep- 
tible of digestion by hungry stomachs — they found 
him meditating a visit to the Massawomekes, and 
other tedious and dangerous adventures. Their dis- 
contents grew at length to such importunacy, as to 
provoke our Captain to declare himself in the follow- 
ing manner : 

" Gentlemen, if you would remember the memor- 
able history of Sir Kalph Sayre, how his company 
importuned him to proceed in the discovery of 
Moratico, alledging they had yet a dog, that being 
boy led with saxafras leaves would richly feede them 
in their returnes; then, what a shame would it be 
for you (that have bin so suspitious of my tender- 



196 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

nesse) to force me returne, \Yith so much provision 
as we have, and scarce able to say where we have 
beene, nor yet heard of that wee were sent to seei^e? 
You cannot say but I have shared with you in the 
Avorst which is past ; and for what is to come, of 
lodging, dyet, or whatsoever, I am contented you 
allot the worst part to myselfe. As for your feares 
that I will lose myself in these unknowne large 
waters, or be swallowed up in some stormie gust, 
abandon these childish feares, for worse than is past 
is not likel}^ to happen, and there is as much dan- 
ger to return as to proceede. Eegaine, therefore, 
3^our old spirits, for returne I will not (if God please) 
till I have seene the Massawomekes, found Pata- 
womek, or the head of this water, you conceit to be 
endlesse." 

This firm expression of his resolve silenced the 
discontents, but circumstances helped their entreaties. 
Three or four of them fell sick and this, with the 
continuance, of adverse weather for several days, 
determined Smith, however unwillingly, to forbear 
for the present the prosecution of the voyage. He 
left the bay where it was some nine miles wide, 
with a draught of nine or ten fathoms, and on the 
16th of June fell in with the mouth of the Potomac. 

The sight of this noble river cheered the drooping 
spirits of his men, and their health being somewhat 
restored, it was determined to explore it. For thirty 
miles no inhabitants ^vere seen. At length they met 
with two, who conducted them up a little creek to- 
wards Onanomanient, and into an ambuscade. Here 
the English found themselves surrounded by savages 
to the number of three or four thousand; — "So 
strangely paynted, grimed and disguised, shouting, 
yelling and crying, as so many spirits from hell could 
not have showed more terrible." But Smith cared 
litlte for their bravados. Still, it was deeme4 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 197 

necessary to scare them a little, and, training his 
guns so as to allow the stroke of the bullets to be 
seen by the savages upon the water, he gave them a 
few volleys, which soon brought them to their senses. 
Down went bows and arrows, and all was peace be- 
tween the parties, and wonderment at least with one 
of them. They surprised Smith with some of their 
statements. They did not hesitate to declare that 
they had been commanded to destroy the English by 
Powhatan, who had heard of this expedition. This 
was not so much calculated to provoke his aston- 
ishment as what they told him farther, to the effect 
that Powhatan had been advised by certain of the 
settlers at Jamestown of all Smith's proceedings, 
and had been encouraged by them to put him to 
death, as he kept them in the country against their 
Avill. The reckless manner in which men Tvere 
gathered up in England for the purposes of coloniza- 
tion is matter of history. We know very well that 
the profligate and criminal but too commonly fur- 
nished the chief materials for such enterprises. But 
it is not easy to yield our faith to such desperate 
wickedness as this, and we should be now inclined to 
withhold it, and to ascribe it to some imperfect under- 
standing of what was said by the savages, but that 
subsequent circumstances, absolute facts, and the 
commission of particular deeds on the part of some 
of the wretches thus characterized, go fully to con- 
firm the statement. 

Their farther progress up the river found the 
people at all places, with few exceptions, armed 
and ready in the same spirit and under the same in- 
structions to assail them. The 3foyao7ie8, Nacotch- 
tants, and Toags — heathen of whom we have no far- 
ther traces — alone received them with hospitality. 
Having gone as far as they could go in their vessel, 
they commenced t-heir return, and were fortunate 



198 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

in meeting with numerous savages in canoes well 
stocked with the flesh of slaughtered bears, deer, 
and other beasts, of which they received liberal por- 
tions. The aspect of the shores, with great rocks 
towering above the trees, commanded their atten- 
tion, more particularly as the progress of water 
down the sides had left " a tinctured spangled skurfe, 
that made many bare places seeme as guilded." 
Dreams of gold and gold mountains were ever work- 
ing in the brains of the voyagers of those days. 
Smith himself seems to have been superior to the 
various delusions by which they were mocked. But 
not so his companions. They clambered up the 
rocks, and burrowed in the earth among their high- 
est cliffs. The ground was so sprinkled with yellow 
spangles as to seem " halfe pin dust." Conducted 
by Japazaws, King of Patawomeke, still under the 
belief that they were on the tracks of a gold mine, 
they ascended one of the tributaries of the Potomac 
as far as the depth of water would suffer the boat 
to go. Here Smith left her, taking with him six 
men, and surrounded by divers savages, some of 
whom, to be sure of their fidelity, he carried in the 
twofold character of guides and hostages. These 
he adroitly decorated with chains which, if they con- 
ducted him in safety, they were to keep as'^orna- 
ments. The temptation was too great to suffer 
them to feel the weight or the restraint of their 
decorations. They meant him fairly, and conducted 
him to the foot of a mountain, the substance of 
which seemed to be antimony. The tribes had bur- 
rowed in its bowels before. Their shells and hatchets 
had long been familiar with its treasures. Washed 
of its dross " in a fay re brooke of christel-like water," 
which " runneth hard by it," it is put into little 
bags, and made an article of trade of ready sale 
throughout the country. It had no use but as a 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SSHTH. 199 

paint. "With this they paint the images of their 
gods, and their own bodies and faces, " which makee 
them looke like blackmoores dusted over with 
silver." Rewarding his guides, and the king to 
whom they belonged, our Captain obtained a sup- 
ply of this precious commodity. This was sent to 
England ; w^as represented by J^ewport to be half 
silver, and new supplies were procured, which 
proved to be of no value. No minerals were dis- 
covered in this search. Some furs were gathered, 
the best of w^hich were found among the Indians of 
Cascarawaoke, that merchant tribe which did so 
much of the manufacturing and trading of the 
country. Beavers, otters, bears, martens and minks 
rew^arded in some slight degree their search ; and 
fish were in such abundance, " lying so thicke, with 
their heads above the w^ater, as i'or want of nets (our 
barge driving amongst them) w^e attempted to catch 
them with a fryingpan I " But this was found, 
dryly remarks our narrative, " a bad instrument to 
catch fish with." They succeeded better with their 
swords, following the example of Smith, who, w^hen- 
ever at ebb tide their boat chanced to ground upon 
the shoals at the entrances of rivers, would amuse 
" himselfe by nayling them to the ground wnth his 
sword." Thus sporting, more fish would be taken 
in an hour than would suffice the party for a day. 

On one occasion this amusement had nearly proved 
fatal to our hero. Taking from his sword a stingray 
— a fish the character of which he did not know — 
" being much of the fashion of a thornback, but a 
long ta^de like a riding rodde, w^hereon the middest 
is a most poj'soned sting, of tw^o or three inches long, 
bearded like a saw on each side" — it struck its 
weapon into his wrist to the depth of nearly an inch 
and a half. No blood or even wound was percep- 
tible at first, with the exception of a slight blue spot ; 



200 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

but the torment was extreme and instantaneous. 
In four hours such was the swollen state of his arm 
and shoulder, and such the condition to which the 
patient was reduced, that his companions concluded 
he must die. Such was his own conviction, and 
with that exercise of firmness and will which seemed 
to distinguish equally all his actions, he chose his 
l>lace of burial in a neighboring island, and there his 
comrades, with heavy hearts, proceeded to prepare 
his grave. But it was not the will of providence 
that he should perish thus. There was still work 
for his hands. " It pleased God, by a precious oyle," 
that Dr. Russell should finally give relief to the 
agonizing pain of his limb and reduce its swelling, 
and so far from being buried, he survived to revenge 
himself upon the fish b}^ partaking heartily of it 
that night for supper. The island where this oc- 
curred, at the north of the Rappahannock, still bears, 
in the name of the fish, the memory of the event. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 201 



CHAPTEK Y. 

The hurt under which our Captain still suffered 
in some degree contributed to the return of the 
voyagers. But for this they might still have loitered 
along the route for further discoveries. Once fairly 
under weigh, Smith contrived to extract from his 
men all the services of which they were capable. 

Their arrival at the Indian settlement of Kecough- 
tan (Hampton) was a subject of surprise to the 
savages, who " seeing our Captain hurt, and another 
bloody by breaking his shinne, — our number of 
bowes, arrowes, swords, mantles and furrs, would 
needes imagine we had beene at warres."" The 
simple statement of the truth would not satisfy them, 
and finding them resolved on believing nothing less 
than they fancied, they were fooled by our voyagers 
to the top of their bent. " Finding their aptnesse 
to beleeve, we fayled not (as a great secret) to tell 
them anything which might affright them, — what 
spoyle we had got and made of the Massawomeks." 
In the same spirit, disguising their bark with painted 
streamers and other devices, our voyagers appeared 
before the people of Jamestown as a Spanish frigate, 
and filled them with terror for a season. They 
reached the colony on the 21st of July, having been 
absent twenty days. 

Smith's return to the colony was always season- 
able. As usual he found things in evil condition. 
The last comers from Europe were all sick ; of the 
rest some were lame and bruised, and all unhappy 
— all complaining of the President. That weak 



202 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and vicious person had resumed bis evil practises, 
had riotousl}^ consumed the public stores, had been 
guilty of needless cruekies, and had completed the 
measure of his follies and offenses by tasking the 
labor of the people in building a sort of pleasure- 
house in the woods for his personal indulgence. 
But for Smith's return, the discontents of the coun- 
try would have summarily revenged themselves 
upon the offender. Their apprehensions were re- 
lieved, but their fury scarcely lessened, by the com- 
ing of our Captain. The news he brought, the 
supplies, and in particidar his own presence, which 
always had the tendency to reassure the timid and 
desponding, enabled them to forgive the offenses of 
the President. But they insisted upon his deposi- 
tion, and required Smith to take upon him the gov- 
ernment, " as by course it did belong to him." But 
the mere name of office was not a temptation to 
one who sought to perform and to achieve, rather 
than to rule. He preferred the more active toils of 
exploration ; and, resolutely denying their entreaties, 
substituted Mr. Scrivener, whom he calls his " deare 
friend," for himself in the Presidency. Then, " in 
regard of the company, and heate of the yeare, they 
being unable to worke, he lefte them to live at ease, 
to recover their healths," and re-embarked on the 
24th of July — after a rest of two days onh^ — to 
finish his discoveries, taking w^itli him' nearly the 
same persons as before. Contrarj^ winds ke}:>t them 
two or three days at Kecoughtan, Avhere the king 
feasted them with much satisfaction ; the more 
particularly as the Indians persuaded themselves 
that Smith was going on an expedition against the 
hateful Massaw^omeks. A few^ rockets which he 
fired in air convinced the terrified savages that their 
new allies were irresistible, and they saw them de- 
part on the supposed invasion with the happiest 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 203 

hopes and rejoicings. The first night, Smith an- 
chored at Stingray Isle, a place memorable in his 
late experience. The next day crossing the Poto- 
mac, he made for the river Bolus, otherwise Pa- 
tapsco. This stream, as our voyagers pursued it 
to its sources, was found to divide itself into four 
heads. These they separately followed, exploring 
them as far as their boat could penetrate. Two of 
these tributaries, the Sasquesahanock (Susquehanna) 
and the Tockwogh (since called the Sassafras), they 
found to be inhabited. In crossing the bay, they 
unexpectedly encountered seven or eight canoes 
filled with the renowned Massawomeks, so much 
feared by the Powhatanese, and whom Smith so 
much desired to see. The bold savages prepared at 
once for a conflict, and our Captam was no less 
prompt and decisive. He drew in his oars, and 
made all sail in pursuit. Some of his men, unac- 
customed to the climate, had fallen sick "almost to 
death," since leaving Kecoughtan. These were " all 
of the last supply." They were made to lay them- 
selves down in the boat, and were covered with the 
tarpaulin out of all danger. Their hats only were 
made use of. Eaised on sticks, a hat between every 
tw^o men, the force of Smith was doubled to the 
eyes of their enemies. He had need of some such 
?'use de guerre to impress the warlike savages with 
any respect. His men able to do battle were but 
five in number. His boldness had its effect. Sup- 
posing his hats to be men — and white men, too, of 
whom probably vague and very terrible accounts 
had already reached their ears — the formidable 
Massawomeks took to flight, and made w^ith all 
possible speed to the shore. Here they drew up, 
watchful of all the movements of the barge, until 
she anchored right against them. It was difficult 
to persuade them of the pacific intentions of the 



204 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

strangers. There were no Indian words known to 
Smith which they seemed to comprehend. None 
of theirs could be understood. But perseverance 
and patience produced their usual effects, and two 
of the Indians were moved by signs to approach the 
whites unarmed in a canoe. The rest all followed 
in their support. A present of a bell to each of the 
first comers, brought the rest aboard in the most 
pacific moods and^littitudes. They brought venison 
and bear's flesh to present to the strangers, and 
even gave them of their bows and arrows, their 
clubs, targets, and bear skins. Smith requited 
them with gifts quite as valuable to them or more 
so. They gave him to understand that they had 
just been fighting with their enemies the Tockwoghs, 
and showed him their green wounds in proof of the 
seriousness of the encounter. The interview was 
friendly throughout. The night separated the 
parties, and with the morning the Massawomeks 
were nowhere to be seen. 

The next day the English proceeded to the coun- 
try of the Tockwoghs. Entering the river of that 
name, the}^ found themselves environed by the sav- 
ages in a fleet of canoes. They were all armed, 
and had prepared themselves, in all probability, for 
the enemies from whom Smith had just separated. 
His policy was to conciliate this people, and he did 
not scruple to shape his story for this purpose. He 
displayed the weapons obtained from the Massa- 
womeks, and claimed to have taken them in battle. 
The Tockwoghs recognized the spears and the shields, 
the bows and arrows of their most formidable op- 
ponents, and they welcomed the whites with accla- 
mations. Conducting them to their hamlet, which 
was palisaded and otherwise strongly fortified, they 
spread their furs and fruits before the strangers. 
The women and children hailed them with songs 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 205 

and dances, and all parties strove in every possible 
way to express the warmth and the extent of their 
gratification. They saw hatchets, knives, fragments 
of brass and iron among these people, who said tbey 
obtained them from the Sasquesahanocks — a nation 
of Indians who dwelt at tbe sources of the river 
which bore their name. These they described as a 
very mighty people, and the mortal enemies of the 
Massawomeks. Smith was curious to see this people. 
He persuaded his hosts to send a despatch and in- 
vite them to an interview. This was done, and 
after a few days they came down, sixty in number, 
bringing with them gifts of venison, tobacco pipes 
three feet in length, and worthy of a sultan, baskets, 
targets, bows, and arrows — all the specimens of 
native production which they had to offer. Smith 
describes them as very noble specimens of humanity. 
He speaks of them as a race of giants. " Such 
greate and well proportioned men are seldome seene, 
for they seemed like giants to the English, yea, and 
unto their neighbours." He speaks of them as in 
other respects the "strangest people of all those 
countries." They were of a simple and confiding 
temper, and could scarcely be restrained from 
prostrating themselves in adoration of the white 
strangers. Their language seemed to correspond 
with their proportions, " sounding from them as a 
voyce in a vault." They were clad in bear and wolf 
skins, wearing the skin as the Mexican his poncho, 
passing the head through a slit in the center, and let- 
ting the garment drape naturally around from the 
shoulders. " Some have cassocks made of beares' 
heads and skinnes, that a man's head goes through 
the skinne's neck, and the eares of the beare fastened 
to his shoulders, the nose and teeth hanging down 
his breast, another beare's face split behind him, 
and at the end of the nose hung a pawe ; the half^ 



206 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

sleeves coming to the elbows were the necks of the 
beares, and the arms through the mouth with pawes 
hanging at their noses. One had the head of a 
w^olfe hanging in a chaine for a Jewell, his tobacco 
pipe three-quarters of a yard long, prettily carved 
with a bird, a deere, or some such devise at the 
great end, sufficient to beat out one's braines." 

Such details will be hereafter valuable to the stu- 
dents of American art. The masquerader, whose 
ambition it will be to simulate the barbarous fantas- 
ticalities of the Sasquesahanocks, need not blunder 
in his costume. Smith, who was a good draughts- 
man, the circumstances of his education considered, 
has ^iven us a spirited sketch of one of these gi- 
gantic warriors, "the greatest of them" thus at- 
tired : — " The calfe of whose leg was three-quarters 
of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbes so 
answerable to that proportion, that he seemed the 
goodliest man we ever beheld. His hay re the one 
side was long, the other shore close, with a ridge 
over his crowne like a cock's combe. His arrows 
were five quarters long, headed with the splinters 
of a white chr3^stall-like stone, in forme of a heart, 
an inche broad, and an inche and a halfe or more 
long. These he wore in a w^olve's skinne at his 
backe for his quiver, his bow in the one hand and 
his club in the other, as is described." 

It is seldom that we have reason to suspect or 
accuse Smith of exaggeration. For a traveler he 
is exceedingly circumspect. We see no reason to 
question the perfect correctness of this description. 
In respect to the costume, we have abundant proofs 
of its singular propriety and truth. His example 
here is taken from a remarkable instance, even 
among his people. The Sasquesahanocks are all 
described as above the ordinary size — a very supe- 
rior race of men ; but this, their chief, is great even 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 207 

among them. He is as Saul among the Israelites — 
as Goliath among the people of Gath. Pursuing the 
trade of war, in a climate at once mild and invigor- 
ating, fed on the simplest fruits of the earth, enshived 
by no intoxicating or enfeebling habits, and con- 
stantly exercising in the dangers of the field or the 
sports of the chase all the muscles of manhood, we 
must not wonder that the warrior of Virginia towers 
above the feebler race, whom luxuries circumvent 
and overthrow, as the lap of Dalilah robs the son 
of Manoah of all his strength. Individuals may be 
seen even now, who would compare with our Sas- 
quesahanock giant. 

Smith seems never to have neglected the duties of 
religion, llis reverence naturally belonged to, and 
was in some measure the source of, his earnestness 
of character. His enterprises did not interfere with 
the daily rites of worship. On the ocean, in the 
deep forests, his daily order was to ha.ve prayer and 
psalm, such as the Christian manuals have afforded 
for a thousand years, suited to all the situations and 
conditions of mankind. This service was not fore- 
gone because of the presence of the lavages. Per- 
haps it was more fervently insisted on for this very 
reason. The Tockwoghs and Sasquesahanocks, 
much edified and wondering, looked on in respect- 
ful silence, then followed up the holy proceedings 
by something of their own, after a similar fashion. 
Their hands were lifted in a passionate manner to 
the sun, the visible source of energy wnth all bar- 
barous people. Then followed a most " fearefuU 
song." The American Indians are not, like the 
Africans, a musical race, though it is very possible 
that our stout Sasquesahanocks sang very nearly as 
well, though perhaps not in so artistical a manner, 
as our English. It was the ear of the latter which 
was not attuned to the " native wood-notes wild " of 



20S LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

their tawny corapanioDS. In all probability the 
Tockwogh critics had something disparaging to say 
of the English music, after the latter had departed. 
The song of the savages was succeeded by a general 
embrace of " our Captaine," whom they would have 
proceeded to worship as a being of superior order 
but for his decided opposition. Denied to worship, 
they were yet suffered to apostrophize tkeir guests, 
and " with a most strange furious action and a hell- 
ish voice," they made him an oration, expressive of 
their friendship. Then followed the symbolical pro- 
ceedings, by which their sentiments were better con- 
veyed than through their speeches. They seized 
upon our Captain, covered him " with a great painted 
beare's skin," hung about his neck " a great chayne 
of white beads, weighing at least six or seven pounds, 
and laid eighteen mantels, made of divers sorts of 
skinnes sowed together," with many other toys, at 
his feet. Then while their ceremonious hands 
stroked his neck, they tendered him support and 
tribute, and implored him to remain their governor 
and protector. They gave him descriptions of their 
own and the neighboring countries ; "of Atquana- 
chuck, Massawomek, and other people," whom they 
described as living " upon a great water beyond the 
mountains, which he understood to be some great 
lake or the river of Canada." 

The Sasquesahanocks were a populous nation, 
using the standards of tribes equally wandering and 
sterile. They could muster six hundred fighting 
men, and dwelt in hamlets which were palisadoed. 
They were scarcely known to Powhatan,"^ yet were 

* And yet, adopting the statements of the Six Nations them- 
selves, the latter are assumed to liave been the conquerors of 
the wiiole country, and to have swept with their arms the vast 
Atlantic ranges of the Apalaohian cliain from Maine to Flor- 
ida. The pretensions of the Six Nations were greatly misun- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. ^09 

mortal enemies to the Massawomeks. From the 
French of Canada they procured their hatchets and 
other European commodities. It was with much 
difficulty that Smith tore himself away from this 
hospitable and simple people. He left them, prom- 
ising to visit them again next year. 

Keturning down the bay to the Eappahannock, 
our party explored every river and inlet of any con- 
sequence along the route, giving English names to 
stream and headland, boring holes in trees, in which 
they left notes or memoranda, and raising crosses 
of wood, and sometimes of brass, to signifv that 
possession had been taken of the country by Eng- 
lish authority. In penetrating the Eappahannock 
they were kindly entertained by a people called the 
Moraughtacunds, influenced probably by the pres- 
ence of an Indian named Mosco, whom Smith styles 
an old friend, and who claimed to be a countrvman 
of the whites. Unlike the savages, Mosco luxuri- 
ated in a fine, black, bushy beard, of which he was 
not a little proud. Upon \his peculiaritv he built, 
in ranking himself with the English. Smith sup- 
posed him to have been the son of some Frenchman. 
Mosco took great pride in entertaining his country- 
men ; brought them wood and water, procured 
them the services of the Indians, and was himself 
their guide throughout the neighborhood. At part- 
ing he counseled them not to visit the Eappahan- 
nocks, whom he described as hostile to the Mor- 
aughtacunds, and would be to the English when 
they knew of their friendship with the latter. 
Smith, suspecting that this representation sprung 

derstood at first ; and they derived their titles (by conquest) 
from the representations of the whites, to whom they were 
required to give titles. The Indian tribes have thus repeat- 
edly sold territories on which they themselves had never 
dared to set a foot. 



210 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

from a desire to secure all their trade for his friends, 
gave it no heed, and crossed the river to the terri- 
tories of the tabooed people. But Mosco was hon- 
est. Some twelve or sixteen Indians along the shore 
directed the English to the mouth of a creek where 
there was a good landing. Here they found three 
or four canoes, in which they had put, as so much 
bait, certain of the usual commodities which they 
gave in barter. But Smith was not so easily caught. 
His custom was, wherever the parties were of doubt- 
ful faith, to exchange a man as a hostage — " in sign 
of love" — and until they complied with this requi- 
sition, our Rappahannocks could not persuade him to 
come within their clutches. At length, after some 
consultation, some four or five of them darted up to 
their middles into the creek, bringing with them 
their hostage. They showed our Captain that they 
had no weapons, but he was still distrustful, and 
while detaining their man. sent one of his own, 
Anas Todkill, ashore to look about for "ambus- 
cadoes." Todkill was not suffered to advance far, 
nor did he need to do so, for in a stone's throw from 
the landing he discovered some two or three hun- 
dred savages in ambush among the trees. His hasty 
movement to return to the boat was intercepted. 
The Rappahannocks, perceiving that their design 
was discovered, attempted to carry him off per- 
force ; and in the same moment the Indian left as 
a hostage in the boat sprang overboard, but was 
slain the next moment in the water. A voUe}^ from 
the barge scattered the savages, and Todkill escaped 
their clutches. Several of the Indians were hurt, 
some slain ; but though more than a thousand arrows 
were sped from their bows in an inconceivably short 
space of time, none of the English were hurt!^ The 
targets of the Massawomeks were found eminently 
useiul for their protection. But for the timely 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 211 

employment of these they might have been far less 
fortunate. 

These targets are described as "made of little 
small sticks woven betwixt strings of their hempe 
and silke grasse, as is our cloth, but so firmly that 
no arrow can pierce them." The canoes and arrows 
captured in this conflict were reserved for Mosco 
and the Moraughtacunds, by whom the return of 
the English w^as hailed with a trumpet. The targets 
of the Massawomeks had served such an admirable 
purpose, that Smith fastened them around the sides 
of the barge, so that they might afford a permanent 
protection in like dangers hereafter. The concep- 
tion was a fortunate one. The very next day, m 
their progress up the river, Mosco being at his ow^n 
request one of their company, they passed an 
ambush of thirty or forty Rappahannocks, who, 
taking advantage of the shelter of a marsh, at a 
spot where the river was particularly narrow, " had 
so accommodated themselves with branches as Ave 
tooke them for little brushes grown'ng among the 
sedge." The arrows flew from invisible hands 
against the Massawomek targets, and but for Mosco 
our English would have been at a loss to guess 
whence they issued. Hiding his favorite whiskers 
in the bottom of the boat, he told them where to 
look for their subtle enemies, who were again the 
Rappahannocks. "With the discharge of the first 
volley from the barge, the green bushes fell down 
among the sedge, and the ambush disappeared. 
" When w^e were neare halfe a myle from them 
they showed themselves, dancing and singing very 
merrily." 

They met with nothing but kind treatment from 
the several tribes v/hom they encountered in their 
fartlier progress up the river. But their company 
was lessened by the death of Richard Featherstone, 



212 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

who sunk under the fever of the climate. He was 
buried, with a volley of shot, on the shores of a 
small bay, which was called by his name. Smith 
speaks of him as a worthy person, who had behaved 
himself "honestly, valiantly, and industriousl}^," 
while he had been in the country. The other mem- 
bers of the expedition, who had been taken sick 
after leaving Kecoughtan, had all recovered their 
health. The toil, exposure and trouble of such an 
enterprise as that in Avhich they were engaged at 
the hottest season of the year,*^ in a close vessel, 
would seem to be unfavorable to the convalescence 
of the sufferer, or even to the continuance in health 
of those not sick ; but they suffered far less from 
disease than those who remained in Jamestown, — as 
probably would always be the advantage of those 
who lead an active life, over those who indulge in 
one of indolence. 

There Avas no indolence where Smith had com- 
mand. The next day, urging their boat as far up 
the river as the stream would carry it, he went 
ashore, set up crosses, and cut their names upon the 
trees. While thus engaged the sentinel was aston- 
ished by an arroAV falling beside him. Yet where 
a savage could hide himself they knew not, for an 
hour had been spent in examining the spot, groping 
in the earth, gathering herbs and stores, and seek- 
ing for springs of sweet water. But instantly tak- 
ing the alarm, the}^ found themselves assailed b}^ 
no less than a hundred savages, who, skipping 
nimbly from tree to tree, kept up an incessant flight 
of arrows. The assailants were too timid, and shot 
too wildly, to do much injury ; and, after a skirmish 
of half an hour, they disappeared as suddenly 
as they came. Mosco played the hero on this 
occasion, emptying his cpiver, flying to the boat 
for fresh supplies, and gallantly leading off the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 213 

pursuit against the fugitives. But it was with some 
cliflBculty that he could be kept from playing the 
savage also ; for, coming upon one of their enemies 
Tvho had been wounded by a musket bullet in the 
knee, " never was dog more furious against a beare, 
fthan Mosco was to have beate out his braines." 
'This was not approved of, as scarcely a Christian 
process. The wounded savage was dressed by the 
surgeon of the English, and so recovered as to be 
able to give an account of himself and people. He 
belonged to the Hassinninga, was a brother of the 
chief of that tribe, which, with three others, made 
up the nation of Mannahock. He had heard that 
the English were a people come from under the 
world to take their world from them. Some of this 
was certainly true, and possibly the whole. When 
asked how man}^ worlds there were, he answered that 
he knew of none but that which lay under the sky 
above them, of which he had been taught to believe 
that the Powhatanese, the Monacans, and the Massa- 
womeks, were the sole inhabitants. The Monacans, 
he said, were the neighbors and friends of his peo- 
ple. They dwelt in hilly countries, on the banks of 
small rivers, and lived upon roots and fruits, but 
chiefly by hunting. The Massawomeks dwelt upon 
a great water, had many boats, and so many men 
that they made war with all the world. 'When 
asked what was beyond the mountains, he replied, 
" The sun ! " Other questions of the sort he an- 
swered in like manner. It was evident he knew 
little of such unimportant matters. This prisoner 
was named Amoroleck — not a bad name for a ro- 
mantic story of the school of Chateaubriand. They 
persuaded him to go with them, rather than kept 
him ; though he earnestly desired them to remain 
where they were, that they might make, on better 
terms than before, the acquaintance of his people. 



214 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

But all this was opposed by Mosco. He was im- 
patient of the dialogue, which to his eai^ was no 
doubt tedious. But he better knew the savage nature 
than the English, and warned them that their de- 
lay would endanger their safety. He described the 
Mannahocks as a naughty race, as troublesome and 
treacherous as the Eappahannocks. Still, they lin- 
gered until night ; then embarked, and took their 
way down the river. It was not long before the 
arrows of the Indians were heard rattling upon the 
Massawomek shields, and dropping into the barge. 
The stream was narrow, the land on one side high, 
and but for the darkness, our English might have 
suffered seriously from this mode of assault. It was 
in vain that Amoroleck called to his countrymen. 
The yells of the assailants silenced all other sounds, 
except that of the musket, which every now and 
then Smith caused to be discharged against the 
quarter whence the clamor rose most loudly. So 
tenacious were they of the conflict, that they fol- 
lowed the course of the boat in this manner for 
nearly twelve miles. By daylight the English, 
emerging into a spacious bay, dropped anchor, and 
fell to breakfast, being only then out of arrow-shot. 
The savages, four or five hundred in number, crowded 
the banks, but the party was quite too hungry and 
too tired to notice them till after breakfast. Then 
taking down their shields, they showed themselves 
with their prisoner, between whom and his coun- 
trymen followed a long discourse. This led to a 
proper understanding between the parties. The 
Indians hung their bows and arrows upon the trees, 
while two of them, their bows and quivers upon 
their heads, swam off to the barge, bringing these 
as tributes and in proof of friendship. Smith 
promptly went ashore, and bade them summon their 
kings. These were at no great distance. The word 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 215 

King, as employed by our author, must be under- 
stood in the sense of chief. The chiefs were the 
captains of tens, and hundreds, and thousands, and 
led the several war parties of the nation under the 
rule of some one great master like Powhatan. 

These soon made their appearance, four in num- 
ber, according to the requisition of Smith. They 
received Amoroleck at his hands with great rejoic- 
ing. They tendered their bows, arrows, tobacco- 
pipes, and pouches, refusing nothing that was de- 
manded. They, in turn, asked for nothing but the 
pistols of the English, which they took to be pipes 
of a highly improved fashion. But, with less 
dangerous commodities, Smith left them perfectly 
hap])y in their new allies; singing, dancing, and 
making merry as they w^ent. 

The victory of our Captain over the Mannahocks, 
and the subsequent pacification with them, highly 
delighted the Moraughtacunds ; who were a feeble 
race, of smaller persons, and fewer numbers. They 
entreated him to endeavor to bring the Eappahan- 
nocks to their senses also ; a benefit in w^hich, as the 
allies of the English, they must necessarily share. 
Smith needed no entreaties to this effect. Though 
by no means wanton in the exercise of power, b\^ 
no means bloodthirsty, but, indeed, singularly in- 
dulgent and forbearing, though decisive with the 
savages — he yet felt the necessity of making his 
power respected by all the tribes in the neighbor- 
hood. He summoned the Eappahannocks, accord- 
ingly, to a conference, at which several of the In- 
dian kings attended ; and giving them a judicious 
preliminary hint of his power to burn their hamlet, 
destroy their corn, and prove in other respects a 
very troublesome enemy to deal with, he demanded 
that they should bring him — in proof of friendship 
and by way of tribute — the bow and arrows of their 



216 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

king ; should leave their arms on coming into his 
presence ; make a treaty of peace with his allies, the 
jVIoraughtacunds ; and as a guaranty for the faithful 
keeping of these pledges, bring him the son of the 
king as a hostage, llappahannock — for the name 
of the j^eople seems to have been that of the king — 
objected to the last condition. He had but one son 
and could not live without him ; but in lieu of the 
son, he was not unwilling to give up to the JVIoraugh- 
tacunds certain women of his whom the latter had 
stolen — a proceeding which had been at the bottom 
of their recent wars. Our Captain was indulgent, 
and readily accepted the substitute. 

Having returned to Moraughtacund, he had the 
three women brought before him, and put a chain 
of beads upon the neck of each. Then calling up 
the king Kappahannock, he bade him choose her 
whom he most desired ; the second choice was 
accorded to the king of the Morau.^htacunds, and 
the third woman was allotted to Mosco with the 
Avhiskers, the suspected Frenchman. The parties 
were all apparently well satisfied with this mode of 
distribution. The proceedings finished only with 
the night. The next day the people of both the 
tribes, or nations, to the number of six or seven 
hundred, assembled to celebrate the triple peace 
which had thus been established by means of the 
stranger. Xot a bow nor arrow was to be seen 
amongst them : all the shows and images of war 
were studiously kept from sight. They pledged 
themselves to perpetual friendship with the English; 
volunteered to plant corn for them ; and were de- 
lighted with the promise that, in return, they should 
receive ample supplies of hatchets, beads, and copper. 
Mosco, whom these proceedings had greatly dis- 
tinguished, in the heat of his exultation, repudiated 
that inexpressive name, and adopted that of Uitas^ 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 317 

antoitgh^ which, in his dialect, signifies " stranger '^^ ; 
and tlie supposed son of the Frenchman became 
the subject of the English Solomon.* 

From the Rappahannocks our Captain steered 
his vessel to the Piankatank, which he explored as 
far as it was navigable. This river seems to have 
been sparsely settled. Smith describes it as being 
able to bring into the field but fifty or sixt\^ service- 
able men. At the period of his visit, however, the 
people were mostly absent on a hunt. He saw but 
a few old men, women, and children, in the corn- 
fields, from whom he obtained a promise of supply 
whenever he should come for it. 

He now took his way home ; and on his returning 
progress was destined to encounter a more narrow 
peril than any he had yet escaped on the expedition. 
W hile in the direction of Point Comfort, he anchored 
in a bay called Gosnolds, a little to the south of 
York River. Here, in an instant, a sudden gust 
changed a fair calm sky into one of night and tem- 
pest. So terrible was the storm, with rain and 
thunder, that our Captain confesses for the party 
they never more expected to see Jamestown. Run- 
ning before the wind, the}^ could sometimes see the 
land by the fiery flashes from heaven ; and by this 
light only were they saved from splitting upon the 
shores, and finally conducted — the storm and black- 
ness still prevailing — in finding their way to Point 
Comfort. Yerily, it deserved the name in the re- 
gards of our voyagers. There, having refreshed 
themselves, and the skies becoming clear, they once 
more set out, resolved to finish their adventures by 
visiting the Chesapeakes and Nasemonds — tribes of 
which they had only heard, but which, as among 
their near neighbors, it was deemed more proper 
they should know than those which were more re- 
* King James the First. 



218 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

mote, steering for the southern shore, they pene- 
trated the river now called the Elizabeth, upon 
which the town of Norfolk now stands, and sailed 
some six or seven miles into the territories of the 
Chesapeake. But they saw none of the inhabitants ; 
nothing more imposing than a few houses and gar- 
den plots, and forests, " overgrowne with the great- 
est Pyne and Firre trees we ever saw in the coun- 
try." Returning to the main stream, they coasted 
the shores to the mouth of the J^ansemond, where 
they came upon half a dozen savages mending their 
fish-traps. These fled at sight of the strangers. 
The English landed and left some trifles, as a peace- 
offerinof, where the Indians had been workinci:. 
They had not gone far, when the Indians returned, 
found the toys, and with great gladness and good- 
humor invited the strangers to come back. They 
did so, and thus began an intimacy which ended in 
our voyagers turning their prow into the river, 
which they penetrated some seven or eight miles, 
the Indians keeping pace along the shore with the 
progress of the vessel. One of the savages freely 
entered the boat, and the rest made an abun- 
dant display of good feeling. The sight of large 
cornfields on the western shore rewarded our ex- 
plorers with the prospect and promise everywhere 
of great plenty of provisions. Their Indian com- 
panion invited them to his habitation on a little 
islet in the river, where they saw his wife and chil- 
dren, to whom they gave such presents as greatly 
contented them. Tlius far all things looked smil- 
ingly enough. But when their com])aninn had left 
them, and they had left his islet, and in a farther 
progress up the stream, they found it became exceed- 
ingly narrow, things began to look suspici()usly, and 
our voyagers prepared for the worst. They soon 
found themselves followed by seven or eight armed 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 219 

canoes full of people, and this discovery was fol- 
lowed by flights of arrows from the shores on each 
side of the river, as rapidly shot as two hundred 
practised bowmen could send them. The canoes 
opened upon our English at the same moment. 
Smith addressed most of his muskets to the assail- 
ants on the river. It was more immediately nec- 
essary to remove them from his path. A volley 
soon drove them from their canoes — most of them 
taking to the water and swimming to the shore. 
A few shot forced those upon the banks into the 
cover of the woods, and the English took possession 
of the canoes which they had abandoned. These 
they drew with them down the river, where it was 
suflficientlv wide to put them out of reach of arrow- 
shot. Here they proceeded to cut the captured 
canoes to pieces ; at sight of which the Indians — 
supposed to bo the Chesapeakes and Nansemonds to- 
gether — by whom the shores were crowded, threw 
down th.eir weapons, making signs of peace and en- 
treaty. To this our Captain had no objections. 
Bat he had conditions. He required the bow and 
arrows of their king, a chain of pearls, and four 
hundred full bushels of corn ; and upon their rejec- 
tion of these conditions, he threatened not only the 
destruction of their canoes, but of all their houses 
and possessions. Their compliance was prompt. 
" Away went their bows and arrowes, and tagge and 
ragge came with their baskets." The English took 
as uuich as they could carry. They had suffered no 
injury in the contest, thanks to the targets of the 
Massawomeks. These were pierced by more than 
one hundred arrows. Parting with these cunning 
savages on friendly terms, our Captain now made 
liis way to Jamestown, Avhich he reached on the 7th 
of September, having been more than six weeks 
absent. 



220 LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

In these two voyages he had explored the whole 
Bay of Chesapeake ; an excellent map of which he 
constructed, which still remains to us. Upon his 
own computation he had traversed more than three 
thousand miles. He had incurred a thousand perils, 
and passed through them all in safety ; had sufiPered 
with his men a thousand hardships and privations, 
w^hich were all endured with patient courage and 
uncomplaining fortitude. We must not undervalue 
these expeditions because they are associated with 
no event of singular magnitude ; the slaughter of no 
multitudes, and the sacking of no glorious city. In 
the absence of all those startling catastrophes, which 
too much make and characterize the renown of con- 
querors, the achievements of our hero, on these 
occasions, were not less remarkable. By none but 
a very remarkable man could they possibly have 
been done. No disaster marks his progress. He 
sheds no unnecessary blood ; but wins his followers 
along through all difficulties, among a barbarous 
people, neither vexing nor fatiguing the one, nor 
provoking the hate and jealousv of the other. The 
vulgar captain, conscious of the superiority of his 
muskets over the naked savages, would have tracked 
his way in slaughter. As prompt in danger as the 
bravest, Smith rather draws off from the strife, and 
folds his arms until he finds conflict unavoidable. 
He prefers the milder course of treaty and expostu- 
lation, and gives the ignorant natives time to dis- 
cover for themselves the superior power which he 
possesses. His courage and moderation — the skill 
and ingenuity with which he works himself into the 
confidence of the simple Indians — the good nature 
with w^hich he smiles upon and sanctions their 
sports — the curiosity with which he listens to their 
histories, and studies their character — and the felicity 
and great correctness with which he notes all their 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 221 

peculiarities — these proofs alone of the great strength 
of his natural judgment and genius, and the extent 
of his experience and resources, shown on this sin- 
gle progress, should sufficiently entitle him to rank 
among the distinguished men of modern times. No 
man was ever more successful with the Indians. 
He admirably understood their character, and treated 
it with equal firmness and forbearance. To deal 
with them, as with his own followers, required the 
happiest discretion. The latter, sick and suffering, 
strangers in a strange land ; sometimes refractory 
and unwilling, and always inferior to himself in 
ability and spirit ; required equally to be subdued 
and soothed ; to be restrained and goaded ; to be 
upheld by his courage, and stimulated by his enter- 
prise. The successful termination of the adventure is 
in proof of the excellence of his management; while 
the details of his daily progress sufficientl}^ show 
that this success was due, not to mere luck or blind 
fortune, but to the admirably executive mind by 
which the whole progress was conceived and coun- 
seled. 



222 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER YL 

The return of Smith to the colony was always 
seasonable. The withdrawal of his stern authority 
and undiscrimmating justice, was always sure to re- 
sult in evil. Nothing had been done in his absence. 
The crop had been gathered b}^ the diligence of 
Scrivener, but the provisions in store had been suf- 
fered to spoil with rain. Captain Eatcliffe, the late 
President, had not borne with becoming meekness 
his exclusion from office, and was now laid up for 
mutiny. The summer had been a sickly one. Most 
had been sick, many had recovered, some were still 
sick, and many were dead. Nothing had been done, 
except by the small party under Smith. 

Three days after his return he Avas elected to the 
Presidency, having received the letters patent from 
the council. lie bad hitherto refused this office, in 
the teeth of frequent importunacy on the part of 
his friends. He could refuse it no longer. Ilis 
authority was no less necessary to the success of 
the settlement than his courage and enterprise. 
This conviction being forced upon him by a succes- 
sion of proofs, Smith entered upon his duties with 
becoming resolution. The church and storehouse 
were repaired ; new buildings raised for the supplies 
momently expected from England ; the fort strength- 
ened and altered into ""a live square forme;" the 
watch renewed; and the whole company was drawn 
out every Saturday and drilled in military exercises, 
" in the plane by the west bulwarke," which was 
prepared for that purpose, and called Smithfield. 



LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

On such occasions the Indians would gather around 
in great numbers to witness the display, standing 
" in amazement to behold how a fyle would batter 
a tree." 

Nor did Smith confine his regards wholly to the 
strengthening and improving of the immediate set- 
tlement. He repaired his boats, and sent forth a 
trading party under Lieutenant Percy, with instruc- 
tions to seek the country of the Monacans. But 
Percy had not gone far before he met Captain New- 
port, just from England, with fresh supplies, and 
came back with him to the fort. Newport brought 
with him about seventy individuals ; two of whom, 
Captain Eichard Waldo, and Captain Wynne, " two 
ancient souldiers, and valiant gentlemen, but yet 
ignorant of the businis," were appointed members 
of the council. In this ship came also the first 
Englishwomen that ever were in Yirginia, Mrs. 
Forrest, and Anne Burras, her maid. A few more 
women had been a more judicious contribution to 
the wants of the colony than some that were made. 
Bat the Company were unwisely counseled, and the 
new supply, instead of bringing with it comfort to 
our Captain, brought with it little else than annoy- 
ance. The instructions given to Captain Newport 
were of a sort to offend the common sense of any 
man having the experience and the knowledge of 
Smith. They betrayed a singular degree of igno- 
rance as to the nature of the deficiencies, the feeble- 
ness, and the true wants of such a colon3^ A special 
commission was confided to him, authorizing him, 
in certain circumstances, to act independently of 
the council in Virginia. By this commission he 
was instructed not to return without a lump of 
gold, a certainty of the South Sea, or one of the 
lost company sent out by Sir Walter Kaleigh.* 

* The lost colony of Captain White, which had been left on 



224 LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Eequisitions, a rigid endeavor to comply with which 
might have kept the worthy mariner going to and 
fro through the territories of Powhatan to the pres- 
ent day. These instructions were probably of his 
own head. He had obtained the ear of the Com- 
pany m England, and originated all these inven- 
tions. "VVe have heard and seen something of this 
person before, in his visit to Powhatan. He is 
described, and seemingly with great justice, as an 
empt}'', idle, and selfish adventurer ; very great in 
his own conceit, and swelling in his talk at ordinary 
seasons, but timorous and suspicious in moments of 
danger, and totally unequal to its exigencies. " How 
or why Captaine Newport obtained such private 
commission, as not to returne without a lumpe of 
gold, a certaintie of the South Sea, or one of the 
lost com panic sent out by Sir Walter Ealeigh, I 
know not ; nor why he brought such a five-peeced 
Barge, not to beare us to that South Sea, till we 
had home her over the mountaines^ lohich hoio farre 
they extend is yet itnhnowne.'^'* Such, indeed, had 
been one of the ridiculous projects of Newport and 
the Company, the absurdity of which our Captain 
exposes in a single sentence. A barge had been 
actually constructed and sent out in pieces from 
England, to be carried upon men's shoulders over 
the mountains of Virginia, to the waters of the 
South Sea. The idea was taken from the proceed- 
ings of Cortes, in manufacturing his brigan tines at 
Tlascala, and sending them on the backs of tamane^ 
to the Mexican lakes. But Cortes, before he did so, 
knew where to seek for his lakes, and just how far 
they were distant from his brigantines. But our 
Virginia Company knew no more of the space be. 
tween the dominions of Powhatan and the South 

the island of Roanoke, had disappeared, leaving no traces, 
and was probably cut off by the Indians. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 325 

Sea, than they did of the mountains in the moon. 
This was not the only absurdity. Some score of 
foreigners, Poles and DutcbmenJ were sent out on 
wages, for the purpose of manufacturing pitch, tar, 
glass, milles, and soap-ashes ;— objects, says Smith, 
Avhich, " when the country is replenished with peo- 
ple and necessaries, would have done w^ell, but to 
send them and seaventie more, without victual Is, to 
worke, was not so well advised nor considered of as 
it should have beene." The folly of the Company 
and their adviser did not stop here ; and the next 
proceeding of which Smith justly complains was 
one likely to be productive of a great deal of mis- 
chief, as tending to elevate the self-esteem of those 
very persons who were already proud enough, and 
whom it was the English policy to make subordi- 
nate. Certain expensive presents were sent out for 
Powhatan, and orders were issued for his formal 
coronation as a Prince, after the European fashion. 
This was a mischievous, as well as ridiculous mum- 
mery, and vexed the good sense and solid under- 
standmg of our hero. "■ As for the coronation of 
Powhatan," says he, "and his presents of bason and 
ewer, bed, bedstead, clothes, and such costly novel- 
ties, they had much better well spared than so ill 
spent, for wee had his favour much better onely for 
a ]:»layne peece of copper, till this stately kind of 
soliciting made him so much overvalue himselfe, 
that he respected us as much as nothing at all." 

But IS'eu'port had bis commission and his crown, 
and the coronation and all other follies were to 
be achieved or attempted. He accordinglv sum- 
moned the council together, and unfolded hfs powers 
and his schemes together. It is needless to say that 
Smith opposed them as equally unwise and imprac- 
ticable. He urged bis views of the impolicy of all 
these projects with his wonted force and earnest* 
15 



226 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ness. His objections have already in part been 
given. There were others which he urged before 
the council. It was sufficiently hard, he argued, to 
feed two hundred additional mouths, with the pro- 
visions obtained with difficulty for one hundred and 
thirty only ; but even this was comparatively a 
small objection to that which could be urged against 
the great loss of time consumed in these idle per- 
formances. "For wee had the salvages in that de- 
corum (their harvest being newly gathered) that 
wee feared not to get victuals for 500. Now was 
there no way to make us miserable," he asks, " but 
to neglect that time to make provision whilst it was 
to be had, the which was done by the direction 
from England^ to performe this strange discovery, 
but a more strange coronation, to loose that time, 
spend what victualls wee had, tyre and starve our 
men, having no meanes to carry victuals, munition, 
the hurt or sicke, but on their own backs ? " 

But the arguments of Smith were unavailing. 
The majority of the council were against him. 
Scrivener himself desired to see new countries ; 
Waldo and Wynne, the newly arrived, were anxious 
to carry out the wishes of the Company in England ; 
and even Eatcliffe, who had been laid by the heels 
for mutiny, was permitted to have a voice on the 
occasion, Avhich was naturally adverse to the sug- 
gestions of Smith. Captain Newport, vvhom our 
Captain charged with the conception of all these 
projects, " so guikled m^n's hopes with great prom- 
ises," that his resolutions were adopted. Smith, 
in language almost borrowed from divine lips, ex- 
claims mournfully, " God doth know they little knew 
what they did, nor understood their owne estates," 
to adopt his conclusions. To Smith's objections 
about waste of time and lack of provisions, New- 
port pledged himself to freight the pinnace with 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 227 

twenty tons of corn while going on and returning 
from his discovery, and to procure a similar supply 
from Powhatan at Werowocomoco. He promised 
also to divide with them the ship's stores; and 
when Smith shook his head with doubt at these fair 
promises, he meanly insinuated that the opposition 
of our Captain arose only from a selfish wish to 
undertake the adventure himself to the exclusion of 
others ; and, seizing upon an old charge \yhich had 
been made against him in the time of Captain Martin, 
said that nothing, indeed, could prevent the success 
of the expedition but the desire of the savages to 
revenge the cruelties which Smith had practised 
upon them. To this the answer of our Captain was 
sufRcientlv conclusive ; not only as showing his in- 
nocence of this charge in particular, but to prove 
that he was in every respect willing to facilitate the 
enterprise, the moment it was fully resolved upon. 
He was not the man to throw any obstacles in the 
way of a scheme, which he yet felt himself com- 
pelled to disapprove ; and exhibited none of that 
sullen inactivity, by which inferior men passively 
retard what they can no longer actively oppose. 
He volunteered to visit Powhatan with only four 
companions—" where Kewport durst not goe with 
less than 120 "—to entreat the Indian monarch to 
come to Jamestown to receive his presents, and 
undergo the ceremonial of coronation. His offer 
was accepted. The small party went over land to 
Werowocomoco, but Powhatan was some thirty 
miles distant. He w^as immediately sent for, and 
Pocahontas, in the meantime, undertook to entertain 
the guests of her father. 

Siie did this after a fashion of her own, and which, 
for a moment, proved rather startling to some of the 
English. Conducting the party to a " fayre plaine " 
in the woods, they were placed upon mats around a 



228 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

fire. This clone, Pocahontas disappeared, and sud- 
denly a hideous shrieking arose from the woods, 
which caused the party to leap to their feet, prepare 
their weapons, and seize upon two or three old men 
who had remained with them as securities for their 
safety. They looked momently to see Powhatan and 
all his power emerge from the woods upon them. 
In place of these, however, Pocahontas showed her- 
self, to reassure them. She was greatly discom- 
posed that her sports, innocently meant, should 
have caused alarm, and placing herself among the 
English, she bade them kill her if any evil was in- 
tended. Men, women, and children, flocked around 
them at the same time, to confirm the assurances of 
the sweet forest damsel whom they served. Our 
Captain was soon satisfied that there was nothing 
to be apprehended. But his companions were 
mostly fresh from England, and his seizure of the 
old men as guaranties and hostages was most prob- 
ably an act meant only to give them confidence. 
The}^ resumed their places upon the matting, Poca- 
hontas placing herself among them, while a pageant 
after a primitive fashion — a masque, shall we call 
it, of the Powhatanese ? — took place, sufficiently new 
to the strangers, but one which did not greatly 
delight their tastes. We are reminded, as we read, 
of some of the orgies of nymphs and satyrs, such as 
the old dramatists used to exhibit in their " daintie 
devises." The scene was opened by the appearance 
from the woods of thirty young damsels, who, clad 
only in ^reen leaves, came boldly forth as from the 
hands of original nature — with the single exception, 
that where their skins were visible through the 
leaves they were decorated with paints of various 
colors. The style of costume in each, not to fall 
into an Hibernianisra, differed from that of her 
companions. No two of them were painted alike. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 229 

"Their leader Lad a fay re payre of buck's homes 
on her head, and an otter's skinneat her girdle, and 
another at her arme, a quiver of arrowes at her 
backe, and a bow and arrowes in her hand." How 
easy to fancy this the Diana of Wcrowocoraoco '. 
Others carried other implements and ornaments, all 
of which may have been emblematical, but all were 
alike horned, and, to our English companions, hor- 
rible. The language in which our author speaks of 
their exhibition smacks of the puritan rather than 
the gallant or the adventurer. He calls them 
" fiends," and describes their shrieks and shouts as 
" hellish." They darted headlong from among the 
trees, cast themselves frantically in a passionate set 
of antics about the fire, and, according to our nar- 
rator, played the part of Bacchantes to perfection. 
In such maddening manner did the light-heeled and 
light-handed damsels of Cyprus hail the ascent and 
approach of their reeling deity. " Singing and 
dauncing with most excellent ill varietie, oft tailing 
into their inf email passions, and solemnly againe 
to sing and daunce," they consumed about an hour 
in their fantastic exhibition, then disappeared among 
the trees as suddenly and strangely as they had 
entered. But this scene did not end the " Mas- 
carado." Having invited Smith and the rest to 
their lodgings, our masquerading dames changed 
the character of their sports, and from being wild 
and furious before, they became tender and solici- 
tous. But the proceedings in the latter were not 
more grateful than in the former character, and our 
Captain complains that he was now more than ever 
tormented by their fondling and embraces. They 
hung upon him, crowding and pressing, as do the 
nymphs who would tempt Kobert le Diable in the 
ojpera, crying out — " most tediously," says our hero 
— " Love you not me ? Love you not me ? " 



230 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Poor Pocahontas! little did she fancy that her 
primitive forest fancy would have had so unpleasing 
effect upon her English favorites. Whether our 
courtly Captain allowed her to see or to suspect 
his own, and the annoyance of his companions, 
is not stated. At all events, she continued her 
efforts, in the absence of her father, to amuse 
and to delight her guests. The masque being 
over, the feast was set — *' consisting of all the sal- 
vage dainties they could devise : some attending, 
others singing and dauncing about them " — the whole 
mirth and festival being ended by their seizing 
upon blazing firebrands, and conducting them, in a 
sort of royal state, to the lodgings which had been 
prepared for them. The scene, making allowances 
tor the ruder tastes of a savage people, was perfectly 
feminine, and is not without its sweetness and its 
charm. A little subdued by the hand of art, the 
poet may yet weave it into some lovely native fabric. 
Pocahontas does not appear to have engaged in this 
frolic, except to command it, and she commanded 
only such pranks as they were no doubt accus- 
tomed to practise in the presence of their noblest 
guests. 

Powhatan made his appearance the next morning, 
and Smith apprized him of the presents and the 
honors that awaited him at Jamestown, desiring him 
to return with him, and receive them at the hands 
of Father New^port. The answer of Powhatan was 
becoming equally the monarch and the man. It 
betrayed also something of the sagacity of the 
politician. A natural and proper caution was no 
doubt busy with the self-esteem and pride of charac- 
ter of the haughty savage, in prompting his reply. 

" If,'' said he, "your king has sent me presents, I 
also am a king, and this is my land. Eight days 
will I stay to receive them. Your father is to come 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 231 

to me, not I to him, nor yet to your fort. I will not 
bite at such a bait." 

To some suggestions "which Smith had made, 
touching a concerted operation between them 
against the Monacans, and in respect to the medi- 
tated journey over the mountains to the South Sea, 
he answered with equal decision : 

" As for the Monacans, I can revenge my own in- 
juries. As for Atquanachuck, where you say your 
brother was slain, it is a contrary way from those 
parts you suppose it. For any salt water beyond 
the mountains, the relations you have had from my 
people are false ! " 

Could any answer from any monarch have been 
more frank and manly, and characterized by more 
dignity of character ? To illustrate the truth of his 
disclaimer on the subject of the salt water beyond 
the mountains, he drew upon the ground a rude out- 
line of the countries of which himself and his people 
had spoken. He Avas by no means churlish or re- 
served, though decisive in his answers. On the con- 
trary, the discourse between the parties, which was 
protracted, was marked throughout by courtesy and 
kindness on both sides ; — both Smith and Powhatan 
being pretty equally skilled in the arts of diplomacy. 

The arguments of our Captain failed to procure 
any but the one answer from the Virginian Emperor, 
on the subject of the coronation presents. They 
were accordingly sent by water, while Smith and 
Newport, with an escort of fifty men, went across 
by land to Werowocomocco. Here Powhatan 
awaited them in all his state, and the next day was 
appointed for the performance of the ceremony 
which had been the occasion of the interview. We 
can readil}'- conceive the importance Avhich such a 
man as Newport attached to these proceedings, and 
with what state the guards were arranged, and the 



232 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

several marshals appointed to their places; with 
what solemn dignity the presents were brought 
forth ; the bason and ewer, the bed and its royal 
furniture set up, and the scarlet cloak, apparel, and 
crown got in readiness to invest the tawny limbs and 
forehead of the forest chieftain. Our authorities 
afford us but few details, but these give a sufficient 
clue to the imagination of the reader. Powhatan 
seemed somewhat suspicious of these presents. The 
bason and ewer loolvcd innocent enough ; so perhaps 
did the bed and furniture ; but the scarlet cloak had 
something in its aspect which he did not so much 
relish. He had never heard of the fate of Hercules, 
but he evidently had some notion of the dangers 
which might accrue from wearing the cast-off clothes 
of Nessus ; and it required all the assurances of Issi- 
montack, the faithful Indian whom he had entrusted 
with Newport to visit England, and who had just 
returned, to persuade him that there was nothing 
deadly in the garment. It was with much ado the}^ 
succeeded in getting the scarlet robe over his shoul- 
ders. But as for kneeling to receive the crown, that 
he could not do. He was not used to such humilia- 
tion, and no argument could reconcile him to it. 
He neither knew '^ the majesty nor meaning of a 
crowne," and after " a foule trouble " which they 
had, and which "tj^red them all," they only suc- 
ceeded in their object at last " by leaning harcl upon 
his shoulders," so that " he a little stooped," and 
this gave them a moment's opportunity to place the 
kingly circle over the unwilling brows. "When this 
curious operation in crowning a king had reached 
this stage of the business, a pistol-shot gave the 
signal to the boats, which poured forth a volley of 
musketry in honor of the event. Newport, as we 
see, had "arranged the details with great regard to 
the solemnity and state of the occasion. But Pow- 



UFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 233 

hatan, suspecting danger at every step in the affair, 
was prepared to find anything but compliment in 
this salute, and behaved, when the shot struck upon 
his ears, in a most unroyal manner — starting to his 
feet, and, until the matter was explained, showing 
no small degree of apprehension. Eeassured by our 
Captain, he recovered himself sufficiently to perform 
an act which, under like circumstances,' would have 
been characteristic of most sovereigns in any part of 
the world. To show his gratitude, he gave his old 
shoes and mantle to Captain Newport, who, we may 
willingly allow, had justly merited them. To this 
liberal present was added another, just before the 
parties separated, of seven or eight bushels of corn. 
The English derived very little farther advantage 
from this vain and paltry proceeding. For his own 
reasons, which were no doubt quite satisfactory to 
himself, Powhatan refused to join with them against 
the Monacans, whom he had heretofore pronounced 
his enemies ; refused to give them guides to the ter- 
ritories of that people ; and earnestly endeavored to 
dissuade them from their purposes of hostility. 
Thus ended the expedition. In good hands, what a 
ludicrous picture might be made of this coronation 
of Powhatan ; — the reluctant savage pressed down 
by the shoulders, while the three Englishmen, Avith 
the crown aloft, standing on tiptoe, seize the lucky 
moment to drop the shining honor upon his brows ! 



334: ^^^ OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 



CHAPTEK YII. 

The refusal of Powhatan to furnish guides, and 
his evident reluctance to encourage any further ex- 
ploration into his territories, did not discourage Cap- 
tain Newport in his meditated proo-ress in search of 
the country of the Monacans. Smith in vain strove 
to divert him from a purpose, the fruits of which, 
according to his prediction, would be only toil and 
suffering. But the idea of gold dust and gold mines, 
which had seized upon the soul of the good sea cap- 
tain, made him insensible to every argument founded 
upon reason and experience. To use the verses 
which Smith employs in this place, and which, for 
aught we know, may be from his own pen — 

*• But those that liunger seeke to slake, 
Which thus abounding wealth woulde rake, 
Not all the gemmes of Ister's shore, 
Nor all the gold of Lj'dia's store, 
Can fill their greedie appetite, 
It is a thing so infinite." 

Leaving behind him eighty or ninety men with 
Smith, at Jamestown, to load the vessel, Newport, 
with one hundred and twenty, set forth, soon after 
his return from the visit to Powhatan, upon his ex- 
pedition into the wilderness. But his course through 
the woods proved to be no such pleasant sailing, and 
a journey of forty miles, which consumed nearly 
three days, found our adventurers in no humor to 
proceed further. They made no discoveries, got no 
gold, saw nothing to recompense their labor. Two 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 235 

Indian towns of the Monacans were discovered, in 
which they could procure grain for neither love nor 
money. The savages, anxious to be rid of their 
presence, yet afraid to be hostile, treated them with 
sullen indifference, and frightened them with a story 
of strange ships, which, since their departure, had 
penetrated to Jamestown with the view to its con- 
quest. They had hidden their corn, and could not 
be tempted by any offers of trade to betray its hid- 
ing-place to the greedy strangers. This treatment, 
and the fatigue which they suffered from a mode of 
journey to v/hich they were wholly unaccustomed, 
soon reconciled our delicate English to the necessity 
of foregoing those wonderful discoveries upon which. 
Newport had set his heart; and, burdened with 
some shining earths in which their refiner pretended 
to discover silver, they turned their faces once more 
to the settlement. Smith sneers at so sudden an 
abandonment of a progress through a country equal- 
ly fair, fertile and well watered ; but the result was 
only what he had predicted. They reached James- 
town, " halfe sicke, all complaining, and tyred with 
toyle, famine and discontent" — wiser, perhaps, but 
scarcely grateful for an acquisition so very different 
from any which their golden hopes had promised. 

Smith had little sympathy for the adventurers. 
They had no sooner 'reached the town, when he set 
such of them as were able to labor, each according 
to his peculiar ability, in procuring the necessary 
commodities for freighting the vessel. Some were 
set to the manufacture of glass, others of tar, pitch, 
and potash, and these were placed under the control 
of the council ; while he himself, with thirty others, 
leaving Jamestown, proceeded down the river to a 
proper spot in the forest, where he could teach them 
the art of felling trees, making clapboards, and 
sleeping in the woods. Smith was the proper leader 



236 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

to convert into hardy and enterprising men the pun}^ 
and effeminate *' younger sons " who were sent to 
him from England. He himself shrunk from no 
toil, and no exposure. Neither danger nor lahor 
discouraged his manhood ; and, with his example 
before them — that of grappling alwa\^s with the 
worst and most difficult parts of duty — ^his followers 
were deprived of all excuse for complaint or discon- 
tent. But the employment had its pleasurable ex- 
citements. The novelty had its charm, and their 
tasks soon became familiar. " Strange were these 
pleasures to their conditions ; yet lodging, eating, 
and drinking, working or playing, they but doing 
as the President did himselfe. All these things 
were carried on so pleasantl3\ as within a weeke 
they became masters ; making it their delight to 
heare the trees thunder as they fell." And a stir- 
ring sound it is : but the delight of our amateur 
wood-cutters had its disagreeables also. " The axes 
so oft blistered their tender fingers, that many times 
every third blow had a loud othe to drowne the 
echo?' For this immorality, which our hero seems 
to have held in considerable dislike, he adopted a 
novel remedy. Each man's oaths were numbered by 
his companions, and when the labor of the day was 
over, for every oath, a can of cold water was })oured 
down the sleeve of the offender. He himself was 
not exempt from this penalty, — which seems so com- 
pletely to have had the effect desired, that an oath 
was scarcely to be heard in a week. *' By this," 
says our author, " let no man thinke that the Presi- 
dent and these gentlemen spent their times as com- 
mon wood-haggers at felling of trees, or such other 
like labors ; or that they were pressed to it as hire- 
lings, or common slaves ; for what they did, after 
they were but once a little inured, it seemed, and 
some conceited it, only as a pleasure and a recrea- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 237 

tion : vet thirty or forty of such voluntary gentle- 
men would doe more in a day than one hundred of 
the rest, that must be prest to it by compulsion 
We mav add that much of this would be due to 
the skill of him who had the direction of their labors. 
The hearty zeal with which Smith set the exam- 
pie— his own spirit, promptness and energy— and 
the excellent humor and judgment with which he 
planned the penalties of neglect or ill-performance, 
i-these were the essential influences by which to 
make those w^ork, whom more severity would have 
only driven into rebellion. Had Smith played the 
martinet with his volunteers, as the drill serg-eant 
of the reguhar service is wont to do, he might have 
had their axes about his ears. Still, though pleased 
with the spirit and industry of his men, our hero 
quietlv adds, that " twentie good workmen had 
been better than them all." w x» ^ 

Eeturning to the fort, Smith w^as vexed to lind 
that the time had been consumed, and no provisions 
procured. The ship lay idle at a great charge, and 
her men did nothing. Without wasting more time 
in unprofitable complaints, his indefatigable spirit 
at once proceeded to remedy this new evil. Embark- 
ino- in the discovery barge, and leaving instructions 
for Lieutenant Percy to follow in another, he set out 
for the people of Chickahominy. " That dogged na- 
tion was too well acquainted with our wants, refusing 
to trade with as much scorne and insolency as they 
coulde expresse." But Smith was in no humor to 
submit to denial or ill-treatment. The exigency at 
Jamestown was pressing. Besides, he perceived 
that the countenance of Powhatan w^as turned away 
from the colony; that it was his policy to starve 
them out ; and that the time had at length arrived, 
for making such a display of his power, as would 
compel a return of that respect, on the part o± this 



238 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

savage monarch and his people, as would ensure the 
future safety of the English. Changing his tone ac- 
cordingly, he told the Chickahominies that he did 
not so much come for their corn as for liis revenges. 
He had an old account to settle with tbem. His 
own imprisonment had never been atoned for, nor 
the murder of his people ; and it was his humor now 
to take vengeance upon them for both these occasions 
of complaint. Landing his men, and making ready 
to charge the savages, tbey took to their heels, and 
sought the cover of the woods; from whence they 
sent him an embassy, laden with corn, fish, and 
fowl, as a tribute to the offended strangers. They 
implored peace and pardon ; excused themselves for 
their refusal to grant supplies, alleging, by way of 
extenuating themselves, that their harvests that year 
had been inferior; but concluded with freighting 
both barges with ample provisions. 

Eeturning to Jamestown with his store, the fruit 
of this own energy and decision. Smith found him- 
self more likely to suffer from the malice than be 
honored by the gratitude of his associates. It seems 
to have been his peculiar fortune in Virginia so to 
provoke the envy of his colleagues as to make them 
wholly blind to their dependence upon his abilities. 
Indeed, these very abilities, which so completely ob- 
scured their own, were the subject of their reproach 
and aversion. Eadcliffe, who had proved himself 
imbecile while President ; Newport, who had so re- 
cently verified by his own failure the good judgment 
and the predictions of our hero; would both much 
rather have hazarded starvation than that *'his 
paines should prove so much more effectuall than 
theirs." Accordingly, as blind as bitter in their 
malice, they actually laid their heads together, not 
only to deprive him of the presidency on the wretched 
plea that he had left the fort without consent of 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 239 

Council, even though in the common exigency and 
for the common good, but they made an effort to 
keep him out of the fort also. But, to use the ex- 
pressive language of our author, "their homes were 
much too short"' to effect their object. They them- 
selves narrowly escaped a greater mischief. Our 
hero was no trifler when his wrath was roused, " and 
had not Captain Newport cried peccavi, the Presi- 
dent would have discharged the ship, and caused 
him to have staved one yeare in Virginia to learne 
to speake of his*'owne experience." We are not told 
of the manner in which Smith extricated himself 
from theseattempts of his enemies ; but the common 
conviction of his merits, his skill, spirit and in- 
variable successes, set in contrast with the uniform 
feebleness of those who were envious of his abilities, 
naturally secured him the support of all the colony. 
To a certain extent, such an establishment in a for- 
eign land must be influenced by popular feeling and 
opinion ; and, hated bv some of his associates, Smith 
was sustained by all his followers. Besides, he was 
not wholly alone in the council; and, among the 
chief persons of the settlement. Scrivener, Percy, 
Waldo, and others, were his stanch friends and ad- 
vocates ; and it appears to have been easy to baffle 
the malice of Newport and his more worthless ally, 
Eadcliffe. But, though able to protect himself, and 
to maintain his authority against their machinations, 
he was much less successful in preventing the ilhcit 
traffic which was carried on between the sailors, the 
colonists, and the savages. " All this time our olde 
taverne (the ship) made as much of all of them that 
had either money or ware as could be desired. Bv 
this time thev were become so perfect on all sides (I 
meane the souldiers, saylei^ and salvages), as there 
was ten times more care to maintaine their dam- 
nable and private trade, than to provide for the 



^40 ^rFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

colony things that were necessary. Keither was it 
a small policy in Newport and the marriners to re- 
port in England we had such plentie, and bring us 
so many men without victuals, when they had so 
many private factors in the fort, that, within six or 
seaven weekes,of two or three hundred axes, chisels, 
hows (hoes) and pickaxes, scarce twentie could be 
found : and for pikeheads, shot, powder, or any 
thing they could steal from their fellowes was vend- 
ible ; they knew as well (and as secretly) how to 
convey them to trade with the salvages for furres, 
baskets, Tnussanaks^ young beasts, or such like com- 
modities, as exchange them with the saylers for 
butter, cheese, beefe, porke, aquavitce^ beere, bisket, 
oatmeale, and oyle: and then faine all was sent 
them from their friends. And though Virginia af- 
forded no furres /br the store (i. e. for the benefit of 
the owners), yet our master in one voyage hath got 
so many by this indirect meanes, as he confessed to 
have sold in England for thirty pounds." 

These extracts give a lively idea of the extent 
of the peculation which Smith for a time vainl}'- 
struggled to prevent. As lively an idea of the in- 
dio^nation which he felt mav be gathered from an- 
other passage, where he seems to indicate his success 
in putting an end to it ; and shows, at the same time, 
the sort of obstacles which usually serve to impede 
and baffle all such enterprises. " These," says he, 
speaking of the peculators, " are the saint-seeming 
worthies of Virginia, that have, notwithstanding all 
this, meate, drinke and wages; but now they begin 
to grow weary (of saint-seeming), their trade being 
both perceived and prevented ; none hath beene in 
Virginia that hath observed any thing, which 
knowes not this to be true ; and 3^et the losse, the 
scorne, the misery and shame, was the poore officers, 
gentlemen and carelesse Governours, who were all 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 241 

thus bought and sold ; the adventurers cousened, and 
the action overthrowne by their false excuses, in- 
formations and directions. By this let all men judge 
how this businesse could prosper, being thus abused 
by such pilfring occasions." 

The indignant temper which is here displayed is 
more appropriately shown by our hero in a letter 
which he addressed to the Treasurer and Council of 
the Plantation, in England, in the character of Pres- 
ident of the settlement. He answers the false re- 
ports at the expense of the colony, set afloat by 
selfish and interested persons, and briefly, but am- 
ply, shows what have been and are the true evils 
and evil influences which have baffled the hopes and 
efforts of the colonists. His letter speaks for itself, 
and for the good sense, the clear judgment, and the 
unselfish manhood of the writer. From the tenor 
of the answer, the reader will sufficiently gather 
the sort of reports detrimental to the settlers, which 
had been circulated in England ; — reports which the 
disappointments of the council, with regard to the 
results of their outlay, made them but too ready to 
believe. It was much easier and far more grateful 
to suppose that the failure lay rather in the mis- 
conduct and disobedience of the agents, than in the 
errors and absurdity of their own schemes. They 
complained of the vain hopes with which they had 
been fed, and of the factions which defeated 
the performances of the colony; and concluded 
with threatening, that, unless the proceeds of the 
return voyage of Newport's ship should defray the 
expenses of her outfit — some two thousand pounds 
— they would abandon the settlement to its fate. 
It was with this threat to stimulate him, that New- 
port set out seeking mines of gold and silver in the 
country of the Monacans ; while Smith, with more 
sagacity and industry, proceeded to hew trees, get 
^6 



24^ LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

out clapboards, and freight the vessel with pitch, tar, 
fflass and potash. His letter accompanied the cargo. 
We furnish it at length : 

" Right Honourable^ die. I received ^^our letter, 
wherein you write, that our minds are so set upon 
faction, and idle conceits in dividing the country 
without your consents, and that we feed you but 
with ifs and ands, hopes and some few proofes ; as 
if we would keepe the mystery of the businesse to 
ourselves ; and that we must expressly follow your 
instructions sent by Captain Newport : the charge 
of whose voyage amounts to neare two thousand 
pounds, the which, if we cannot defray by the 
ship's returne, we are alike to remaine as banished 
men. To these particulars I humbly intreat your 
pardons if I offend you with my rude answer. 

*'For our factions, unlesse you would have me 
run away and leave the country, I cannot prevent 
them : because I do make many stay that would els fly 
any whether. For the idle letter send to my Lord of 
Salisbury, by the President and his confederats, for 
dividing the'^country, &c., — what it was 1 know not, 
for you saw no hand of mine to it, nor even dreamt 
I of any such matter. That we feed you with liopes, 
(fee. — Though I he 710 scholar, I am past a schoolhoyj 
and I desire hut to know, what either you, and these 
here doe know, hut that I have learned to tell you hy the 
continuall hazard of my life. I have 7iot concealed 
from you any thing I liiow ; hut I feare some cause 
you to helieve muc)i more than is true. 

" Expressly to follow your directions by Captaine 
!N"ewport, though they be performed, I was directly 
against it ; but according to our commission I was 
content to be overruled by the major part of the 
councell, I feare to the hazard of us all ; which now 
is generally confessed when it is too late. Onely 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. M3 

Captaine Winne and Captain "Waldo I have sworne 
of the councell, and crowned Powhatan according 
to your instructions. 

^^ For the charge of this voyage of two or three 
thousand pounds^ we have not received the value of an 
hundred pounds. And for the quartred boat to be 
borne by the soaldiers over the falles, Newport had 
120 of the best men he could chuse. If he had hunit 
her to ashes, one might have carried her in a hag^ hit 
as she is, Jive hundred cannot^ to a navigable place 
above the falles. And for him at that time to find 
in the South Sea a mine of gold ; or any of them 
sent by Sir Walter Raleigh: at our consultation I 
told them was as likely as the rest. But during 
this great discovery of thirtie myles (which might 
as well have been done by one man, and much more, 
for the value of a pound of copper at a seasonable 
tyme) they had the pinnace and all the boats with 
them, but one that remained with me to serve the 
fort. In their absence 1 followed the new begun 
works of pitch and tarre, glasse, sope-ashes and clap- 
board, whereof some small quantities we have sent 
you. But if you rightly consider what an infinite 
toyleit is in Russia and Swethland, where the woods 
are proper for naught els, and though there be the 
helpe both of man and beast in those ancient com- 
monwealths, which many an hundred yeares have 
used it, yet thousands of those poore people can 
scarce get necessaries to live, but from hand to 
mouth. And though your factors there can buy as 
much in a week as will fraught you a ship, or as 
much as you please ; you must not expect irom us 
any such matter, which are but as many of ignorant 
miserable soules, that are scarce able to get where- 
with to live, and defend ourselves against the in- 
constant salvages: finding here and there a tree fit 
for the purpose, and want all things els the Russians 



^4A LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

have. For the coronation of Powhatcm, — by whose 
advice you sent him such presents, 1 know not ; but 
this give me leave to tell you, I feare they will be 
the confusion of us all ere we heare from you 
agane.* At your ship's ari'ivall the salvages' har- 
vest was newly gathered, and we going to buy it, 
our OAvne not being halfe sufficient for so great a 
number. As for the two ships loading of corne 
Newport promised to provide us from Powhatan, 
he brought us but fourteen bushels, and from the 
Monaca7is nothing, but the most of the men sicke 
and neare famished. From your ship we had not 
provision in victuals worth twenty pound, and we 
are more than two hundred to live upon, this : the 
one halfe sicke, the other little better. For the 
saylers (I confesse) they daily make good cheare ; 
but our diet is a little meale and water, and not 
sufficient of that. Though there he fish in the sea, 
foules in the aire, and leasts in the woods, their 
hounds are so large, they so wilde, and we so loeaJce 
and ignorant, we ca,nnot imich troiihle them. Captain 
Newport we must suspect to be the author of those 
inventions. Noio, that you should hnow, 1 have 
771 ade you as great a discovery as he, for lesse charge 
than he spendeth you every meale j I have sent you 
this mappe of the hay and rivers, with an aiinexed 
relation of the countries and nations that inhahit 
them, as you may see at large.\ Also two barrels of 
stones, and such as 1 take to be good iron ore at the 

* Already, before the ink was dry on Smith's letter, we find 
it written — *' Master Scrivener was sent with the barges and 
pinnace to Werowocomoco, wliere he found the salvages 
more readie to fight than trade," etc. 

f Already referred to. A remarkably well executed chart, 
singularly correct, considering the difficulties and disadvan- 
tages of the explorer ; and an admirable proof of the equal 
zeal, courage and abilities of our adventurer. The accom- 
pauying narrative is equally valuable and remarkable. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 245 

]east ; so divided, as b}^ their notes you may see in 
what places I found thera. The souldiers say many 
of your officers maintaine their families out of that 
you sent us : and that Newport hath an hundred 
pounds a yeare for carrying newes. For every 
master you have yet sent can find the way as well 
as he, so that an hundred pounds might be spared, 
which is more than we have all, that helps to pa}^ 
him wages. Capt. Eadcliffe is now called Sickle- 
more, a poore counterfeited imposture. I have sent 
you him home, least the company should cut his 
throat. What he is now, every one can tell you : 
if he and Archer returne againe they are sufficient 
to keepe us alwayes in factions. When you send 
againe I entreat you rather send but thirty carpen- 
ters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, 
masons and diggers up of trees' roots, well pro- 
vided, than a thousand of such as we have ; for ex- 
cept we be able both to lodge them and feed them, 
the most will consume with want of necessaries be- 
fore the}^ can be made good for any thing. Thus 
if you please to consider this account, and the un- 
necessary wages to Captaine J^ewport, or his ships 
so long lingering and staying here (for notwith- 
standing his boasting to leave us victuals for 12 
months, though we had 89 by this discovery lame 
and sicke, and but a pint of corne a day for a man, 
we were constrained to give him three hogsheads 
of that to victual him homeward), or yet to send 
into Germany or Poleland for glasse men and the 
rest, till we be able to sustain ourselves, and releeve 
them when they come, — it were better to give five 
hundred pound a tun for these grosse commodities 
in Denmarke than send for them hither, 'till more 
necessary things be provided. For in over toyling 
our weake and unskilful bodies, to satisfie this de- 
sire of present profit, we can scarce even recover 



240 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ourselves from one supply to another. And I hum- 
bly in treat you hereafter, let us know what we 
should receive, and not stand to the saylers courtesie 
to leave us what they please, else 3^ou may charge 
us what you will, but we not you with any thing. 
These are the causes that have kept us in Virginia 
from laying such a foundation, that ere this might 
have given much better content and satisfaction : 
but as yet you must not looke for any profitable 
returne : So I humbly rest." 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 24:7 



CHAPTER yill. 

This bold and manly letter was dictated by a 
sense of suffering and injustice, and somewhat by a 
consciousness of exigency. It has devolved upon 
" our Captaine," as we have seen, on almost all oc- 
casions, to procure and to provide, at the hazard of 
his own repose and life, the greater portion of the 
food by which the hungry mouths of the colony 
were satisfied. The ships had brought him con- 
sumers, and nothing more. The stores which they 
furnished were soon exhausted, equally by their 
own waste, and by the new colonists whom they 
brought. Seventy persons came with Newport on 
his last voyage, and were left as burdens to the 
colonists, who, as Smith states in his letter, was 
compelled to supply the ship's crew returning home 
with a portion of their slender store of provision. 
Of the new comers, thirty were gentleman, fourteen 
were tradesmen, twelve were laborers^ two were boys, 
eight were Dutchmen and Poles, sent out to make 
potashes; and there were two women, "Mistresse 
jForrest, and Anne Burros^ her maide." The latter 
was, shortly after her arrival, married to John Lay- 
don, a carpenter, who had been in the colony from 
the beginning; and this was the first marriage of 
Europeans that ever took place in Virginia. With 
this new and numerous supply of gentlemen, added 
to the already large proportion of the same unpro- 
ductive sort of population, our Captain might well 
become affrighted at the new charge upon the 
feeble resources of the colony. The tone of his 



248 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 

letter .s enlivened by the sense of wrong done to 
the really industrious and adventurous portions of 
the settlement ; and be might well be roused at the 
monstrous expense of two thousand pounds, to be 
liquidated by the colon}^ incurred in compliance 
with the absurd suggestions and dishonest counsels 
of JSTewport and Radcliffe — crowns, and robes, and 
wash-basins, to the dusky potentate of Werowo- 
comocco, and searches after the South Sea in the 
wigwams and forests of the people of Monacan. 

The seventy newly arrived had increased the 
number of the colony to two hundred persons. It 
had been found exceedingly difficult to provide for 
half that number, as the chief supplies of food were 
drawn from the Indians. These seldom planted 
more land than would yield provision for their own 
tribes, and though profligate enough to sell when 
under great temptation, they were now too familiar 
with the necessities and with the commodities of 
the English, not to value their own very highly. 
Besides, Powhatan was no longer disposed to en- 
courage the growth of a strange people on his soil, 
wdiose resources were so great, and whose numbers 
he saw so constantly increasing. The colonists 
themselves, mostly dissipated and idle adventurers, 
unaccustomed to labor, and very soon yielding to 
the prostrating influences of the summer climate in 
Virginia, had at no time been able to raise an ade- 
quate supply of food for their own consumption. 
The late season, which had been laboriously em- 
ployed by Smith in exploring the Chesapeake and 
the contiguous rivers, had been consumed by Ead- 
cliffe, then in the Presidency, in idleness and pecula- 
tion. We have seen the waste which followed the 
arrival and the detention of Kenton and his floating 
tavern. At his departure, the destitute condition 
of the colony, doubly burdened with its new mouths, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 249 

distressed and alarmed " our Captaine." " These 
poore conclusions so affrighted us all with famine," 
that he determined on an expedition to Nansemond 
in search of supplies. It will be recollected the 
fright he gave to this people while on his exploring 
voyage, threatening to burn their villages in conse- 
quence of their treachery, and receiving from them 
a promise of four hundred bushels of corn whenever 
he should next visit them. The necessities of the 
colony moved him to remind them of their promise. 
But they had entirely forgotten it ; treated him 
very coldly ; and not*^ only withheld the required 
tribute, bul positively refused to trade with him on 
any terms. They excused themselves for this re- 
fusal, by alleging that they had no provisions to 
spare, and that Powhatan had commanded them 
not only to keep their grain, but not to allow the 
English to enter their river. Smith, after vainly 
endeavoring to reason them into a more friendly 
disposition, brought his muskets to bear upon the 
argument. This drove them to the thickets, with- 
out discharging an arrow. But this brought " our 
Captaine " no nigher to his objects, and, putting the 
torch to one of their houses, he signified to them 
that such should be the fate of all unless the grain 
was forthcoming. This brought them out of covert. 
The argument was effectual ; and, on condition that 
he should " make no more spoyle," they loaded the 
three boats which he brought, before night. '* How 
they collected it," says our author, " I know not." 
Content with their atonement, and the quantity of 
grain which they furnished. Smith forbore farther 
severities, and, on the strength of his forbearance, 
they promised to plant a crop purposely for the 
English. 

That night, our hero, with his party, dropping a 
few miles down the river, so as to place his boats 



250 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and supplies in safety, went ashore, and made their 
beds at the foot of a hill, in the open woods. The 
ground was covered with snow, and frozen hard. 
They dug a space in the snow, and built a fire. 
When the heat had sufficiently dried the spot, they 
threw off the fire, swept the ground, and covering 
it with a mat, slept as warmly and pleasantly as if 
they had been in a palace. " To keepe us from the 
winde we made a shade of another mat ; as the 
winde turned we turned our shade ; and when the 
ground grew cold we renewed the fire. And thus 
many a cold winter night have we laine in this miser- 
able manner ; yet those that most commonly went 
upon those occasions were always in health, lusty 
and fat." These are encouraging facts, which the 
luxurious world are slow to understand. "We have 
yet to learn how much the vigor and the elasticity 
of the human frame depend upon a free and hearty 
commerce with the air we breathe, and with the 
elements which enter into our composition. 

The toils and perils of such a mode of life, the 
severities and caprices of the seasons, had no dis- 
couragements for " our Captain." Scarcely had he 
brought these supplies in safety to Jamestown, 
than he was off on another expedition, having the 
same object. This time, proceeding up the bay in 
two barges, he found himself avoided by the jealous 
savages. They fled on every side at his appearance, 
until he came to the river and people of Appamat- 
tox ; with these he traded, with copper, for a small 
supply of corn, and returned to Jamestown to dis- 
cover that Scrivener and Percy, who had also gone 
abroad on a similar quest, had returned with even 
smaller results than himself ; having procured noth- 
ing. 

These disappointments troubled our hero. The 
prospects were discouraging. Time was lost un- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 251 

profitably, the savages were rapidly consuming the 
provision which was to supply the colony, and the 
winter, only just begun, promised to be a severe 
one. Smith's feelings of disquiet assumed a harsher 
aspect when he beheld the reluctance of the Indians 
to receive him — when he found them flying at his 
approach, and heard from their own lips that they 
were commanded by Powhatan to treat him as an 
enemy. He resolved to strike at the root of the 
evil — to single out the one superior offender over 
all, and, by a striking exhibition of his power, con- 
vince the natives that he was no longer to be trifled 
with. He resolved to surprise Powhatan, and take 
possession of all his provisions. It does not need 
that we should argue for the morality and justice 
of this decision. The discussion would carry us 
quite too far from our narrative, and beyond our 
limits. The case seems to have been one of neces- 
sity, and Smith was determined not to starve. He 
consulted with his counsel, but their opinions were 
divided. Scrivener and Winne, influenced by in- 
structions from England, where, at that time, they 
were particularly tender of the sacredness of the 
rights of the royal person, were opposed to the pro- 
ject. Captain Waldo alone sided with him. Smith's 
reasons were those of Cortez and Pizarro. He felt 
their importance, the exigency of the necessity, and 
was not to be driven from his purposes. It hap- 
pened, just at this time, as if to favor his design, 
that Powhatan despatched a messenger to our hero, 
inviting him to come and see him. The emperor 
wished for workmen to build him a house after the 
English fashion. He also desired a grindstone, fifty 
swords, some guns, and other articles, for which he 
was willing to give a ship-load of corn. Powhatan 
had set his heart upon the swords and grindstones. 
We have already seen the endeavors which he made 



252 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

to procure them from Smith and iN'ewport. With 
the latter he was successful ; but the former was 
less easily persuaded to provide his treacherous 
enemy with better Aveapons of warfare than those 
to which he was accustomed. It is probable that 
the instructions given by Powhatan to his people, 
to refuse all commerce with the English, had no 
higher motive than so to reduce them by their exi- 
gencies as to compel Smith to trade with him on 
his own terms. Knowing that the several attempts 
of the colonists to procure grain had been baffled 
by his instructions, and having learned how eager 
they were in the pursuit of provisions, he fancied 
that the time had arrived when he might procure 
the objects which he desired at his own price ; and 
hence his proposition, and hence his invitation to 
Smith to visit nim. But the latter was disposed to 
suspect some more profound design at the bottom 
of this invitation. He well knew the devices and 
subtlety of the Indian heart, and, regarding only 
his more obvious policy, such as it would have been 
in the case of an European potentate, he found in 
it a full justification for his own project. He com- 
plied in part with the request of Powhatan ; sent 
nim four Dutch and two Englishmen to build his 
house, and prepared himself to visit him. But the 
swords were forgotten. Setting forth with the 
pinnace, two barges, and forty-six men, all volun- 
teers, he left Jamestown for Werowocomoco some 
time in December.* His company was victualed 
for but three or four days, and lodging the first 
night with the King of Warraskoyack, at a short 
distance from Jamestown, they received from him 
ample additional supplies. This chief counseled 

* The narrative says the 29tli, but, as he afterwards tells 
us of spending Christmas among the Indians of Kecoughtan, 
this must be an error. The matter is of little moment. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 253 

Smith against visiting Powhatan, whom he de- 
scribed as meditating the most cruel treacheries, 
sending for the English only to cut their throats 
and seize their arms. But, though thanknig him 
for his advice. Smith resolved against taking it. 
From this king he obtained guides to the dominions 
of another named ChaAvannock, Avhose territories 
lay in the fork of Chowan, between the rivers Not- 
toway and Meherin. With these he despatched one 
Michael Sicklemore, whom he describes as " a very 
valiant, honest, and painful soldier." His object in 
sending this gentleman was threefold. He was to 
conciliate the friendship of the king of the Chow- 
annocks, obtain some specimens of silk grass, and 
make inquiries after the lost company of Mr. Walter 
Kaleigh. On leaving the king of Wanaskoyack, 
Smith left with him his page, Samuel Collier, in 
order that he should learn the Indian language. 

From AYanaskoyack Smith next proceeded to Ke- 
coughtan (Hampton). Here they were detained by 
storms for several days. They kept their Christmas 
— never more merrily — among the Indians, who 
feasted them upon oysters, fish, flesh and wild-fowl, 
in abundance. Better cheer and kinder welcome 
they never enjoyed. The yulelog had never burned 
for them more brightly in England, than in the 
smoky cabins of the Kecoughtan. Departing 
thence, it was not so agreeable to resume their an- 
cient practise, so productive of health and fat, of 
lying in any weather by a great fire at the foot of 
a tree, and with no roof but that of heaven. To 
afford an idea of the abundance of wild fowl en- 
countered on the route, during this severe season, 
we are told that the president, with Anthony Bag- 
nail and Sergeant Pising, killed a hundred and 
forty-eight at three shots. Wild pigeons are prob- 
ably meant. At Kiskiack, the extreme cold and 



254 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

bad weather, together with a desire to " suppress 
the insolency of these proud savages," prompted 
them to delay three or four days longer, and it was 
not till the 12th of January that they reached Wero- 
wocomoco. Here winter awaited them with more 
than usual severity of aspect, as if in alliance with 
Powhatan. The river was frozen for a space of half a 
mile from the shore. But Smith's hardihood was not 
to be discouraged. To lose no time, having broken 
through the ice with the barge as far as this was 
possible, he taught his followers by his own example, 
"to march neare middle deep, a flight shot (an 
arrow shot), through this muddy, frozen ooze." 
Thus he gained the shore in safety with his men, 
and, quartering in the nearest cabins, sent to Pow- 
hatan for provisions. The Emperor ver}^ promptly 
supplied him in abundance with bread, turKeys and 
venison. The next day he received and feasted them 
after his ordinary manner, which, as we have seen 
in repeated instances, was not unworthy an Indian 
sovereign. But, the feast over, to the surprise of 
Smith, he inquired, with rare inhospitality, when he 
proposed to depart. The explanation which fol- 
lowed betrayed the duplicity of the savage nature. 
Powhatan denied that he had ever sent for him. 
He had no corn to spare, and his people less. Some 
forty baskets, indeed, might be had, but for these 
he required forty swords. Smith, in reply to this, 
coolly confronted him with the men by whom his 
message had been brought. When asked how he 
could be so forgetful, he " concluded " the matter 
with a merry laughter, and asked for his commodi- 
ties. But none of these suited him. His desires 
were set only upon guns and swords, and, rejecting 
the copper with contempt, which was offered for his 
corn, he said that he could put a value upon his 
corn, not on the copper. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 256 

"Our Captaine" soon saw that the wily savage 
was trifling with him. He was not much in the 
mood for trifling, and, with some decision, he gave 
him to understand that his guns and swords might 
be bestowed upon him after a different mode from 
that which he desired. "Powhatan,'' said he, 
" though I had many courses to have made mv pro- 
vision, yet, believing your promises to supply my 
wants, I neglected all to satisfie your desire and to 
testify my love. I sent you mv men for your build- 
ino-, neglecting mine own ; what your people had 
you have engrossed forbidding them our trade, and 
iQow you think by consuming the time, we shall con- 
sume for want, not having to fulfil vour strange de- 
mands. As for swords and guns, I told you long 
ap-o, I had none to spare ; and you must know those 
I have can keep me from want : yet steale or wrong 
you I will not, nor dissolve that friendship we have 
mutually promised, except you constrain me ly your 
hadusageP . 

Powhatan listened very attentively to this dis- 
course, and promised, in reply, that within two days 
Smith should have all the corn which it was in his 
own and the power of his people to bestow. " Yet, 
Captaine Smith," he added, " some doubt about the 
motive of your coming hither makes me not so 
kindly seeke to relieve you as I would, for many 
doe inform me your coming hither is not for trade, 
but to possess my country and invade my people. 
These dare not come to bring you corne, seeing you 
thus for ever armed. To free us of this feare, leave 
your weapons aboard your vessel. Here, where we 
are all friends, thev are wholly needless." 

The frankness of Powhatan's speech was as- 
sociated with quite too much wariness of conduct to 
disarm the caution of " our Captaine," with whom 
he contrived to confer throughout the day, in tho 



256 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

same style and in excellent good humor. They were 
both politicians equally skilled and subtle, — each 
having a secret purpose, which he could only exe- 
cute by first baffling the other's vigilance and cir- 
cumspection. But the game was rather more in- 
telligible and clear in the hands of the Indian em- 
peror than in that of our hero. The latter little 
dreamed that he had been betraj^ed to Powhatan 
by the very persons whom he had sent to build his 
palace. Four of these, as we have seen, were 
Dutchmen. One of them, in particular, in conse- 
quence of his great spirit, judgment, and resolution, 
was so great a favorite of Smith, that he had, in 
fact, sent him as a sort of spy upon his enemy, to 
discover and report his secret machinations. Of the 
man's honesty, Smith had not the sli^jhtest doubt, 
and six months elapsed from, the period of these 
proceedings before he was put in possession of the 
proofs of his villainy. But he, as well as the other 
foreigners, were bought over by the artifices of 
Powhatan. The Dutchmen found plenty in the 
huts of the savage, having left an empty granary 
behind them at Jamestown. They were soon ap- 
prised of Powhatan's pi^eparations to surprise and 
destroy the English, and became persuaded, know- 
ing little (as late comers) of the prowess of Smith, 
that the colony must succumb between the joint 
assaults of the savages and famine. Their social 
sympathies were not more active in behalf of the 
English than of the Indians, and they found it little 
difficult to unite their fortunes with the one, rather 
than share the seemingly certain fate of the other. 
Powhatan was accordingly ])ossessed of all the 
schemes of Smith, while conferring with him on 
the most amicable footing. 

That night, ''our Captaine" quartered in the w^ig- 
wams of the king, and the next day their confer- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 257 

encet^ were resumed. These were enlivened slightly 
by a languid trade, which Powhatan suffered, most 
likely, in order to prevent suspicion. In this trade 
the English succeeded in getting ten measures of 
corn I'or a copper kettle which the king seemed 
greatly to affect. But the people brought no corn, 
and the gist of Powhatan's discourse seemed chiefly 
intended to persuade our hero to lay aside his 
weapons and his caution. The ingenuity and talents 
of the Indian king are apparent in the following 
discourse. 

" Captain Smith," said he, ''I have seen the death 
of three generations of my people. lama very old 
man, and know the difference between peace and 
war better than any person in my country. I must 
die ere very long, and would wish to bequeath to 
my brethren and successors my experience of these 
things, along with your friendship. But this hint 
from IS'ansemond that your purpose is to destroy 
my people, alarms both them and me. It is for this 
reason that we dare not visit you. Now, what will 
it avail you to take by force that which you may 
quickly have by love, or to destroy the very hands 
tnat bring you food? What can you get by war, 
when it is so easy for us to fly beyond your reach, 
and hide our provisions in the w^oods ? By wrong- 
ing us, 3'ou only famish yourselves. And why thus 
jealous of our love ? Are we not unarmed among 
you, and willing still to supply your wants? Think 
you I am so simple not to know how much better it 
is to eat good meat, sleep in security with my 
women and children, laugh and enjoy m3^self with 
you, and, being your friend, procure the things I 
wish, than, as your enemy, l)e forced to fly from all ; 
to lie cold in the woods, feed upon roots and acorns, 
and be so hunted by you all the while as to be able 
to enjoy neither rest, food, nor sleep ; with my tired 
17 



258 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

people watching around me, and so anxious and ap- 
prehensive, that, if a twig but break, every one 
crieth out, ' There cometh Captain Smith?' 'Thus, 
with a miserable fear, flying, I know not whither, 
I must soon end a miserable life, leaving my posses- 
sions to such youth as yourself ; who, through rash- 
ness, seeking that which you know not where to find, 
may also as quickly come to a like miserable end. 
Let us be wiser. Let these words assure you of my 
friendship. We shall trade as friends hereafter. 
Only come to us without your swords and guns as 
if you looked for an enemy, and we will furnish you 
with corn." 

The excellent reasoning embodied in this speech 
did not blind Smith to the old king's subtlety. His 
answer was couched in the following terms : 

" Seeing you will not rightly conceive of our 
words, we strive to make you know our thoughts by 
deeds. The vow I made you of my love, both my- 
self e and my men have kept. As for yoicr promise, 
I find it every day violated b}^ some of your subjects. 
Yet we, finding your love and kindnesse, our custom 
is, so far from being ungrateful, that, for your sake 
onely, we have curbed our thirsty desire of revenge ; 
els had they knowne as well the crueltie we use to 
our enemies, as our true love and courtesie to our 
friends. And I thinke your judgment sufficient to 
conceive, as well by the adventures we have under- 
taken, as by the advantage we have (by our armes) 
of yours, that, had we intended you any hurt, long 
ere this we could have effected it. Your people com- 
ing to Jamestowne are entertained, with their bowes 
and arrowes, without any exceptions : we esteeming 
it with you as it is with us, to wear our armes as 
our anparell. As for the danger of our enemies, 
in sucn warres consist our chiefest pleasures. For 
your riches we have no use. As for the hiding your 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 250 

provision, or your flying to the woods, we shall not 
so unavoidably starve as you conclude. Your friendly 
care in that behalfe is needlesse,/^/' we have arule to 
find beyond your 'knowledge.^'' 

In this style and spirit their dialogue continued, 
varied only by a little trade, which Powhatan 
seemed to permit, the better to beguile his adversary. 
But the wariness with which Smith maintained his 
guard baffled the objects of the savage ; who, with 
a deep sigh, at last thus openly reproached our 
Captam with his strictness and vigilance : 

" Captain Smith, I have never treated any Wero- 
wance* with so much kindness as yourself ; yet from 
you I have received but little in return. From 
Newport I had what I wished ; swords and copper, 
bed, towels, anything that I desired, and he was con- 
tent to take only what I offered him. I had but to 
ask, and he sent his guns out of sight. None re- 
fuses to do my bidding but yourself. From you I 
get nothing but what you do not value yourself, 
yet you will have from me only the thing which you 
most desire. You call Newport father, and you 
call me father, yet you are not the son to do for us 
except what you prefer, and we are both required 
to submit to you. If your intentions be really 
friendly, as you say, obey my wishes. Send away 
37'our arms, that I may believe you. In the love I 
bear you, I have stripped myself of every weapon." 

Smith was not blind to the fact that the number 
of Powhatan's followers had greatly increased. He 
himself had but eighteen men ashore ; and but one 
man, John Eussell, immediately in attendance. 
Seeing that the savage was only solicitous to gain 
time in order to accumulate sufficient numbers to 
cut his throat. Smith determined to anticipate the 

* Werowance, or Chief. Smith, it must not be forgotten, 
was made a Werowaiice of Virginia b^ Powhatan. 



260 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

action of his enemy by putting his own schemes 
into sudden operation. He, accordingly^ set the 
Indians to work to break the ice, that the boat 
might reach the shore in order to take in himself 
and the corn which he had bought. He contrived 
at the same time to convey an order to his men to 
come ashore, the better to effect the surprise which 
he designed. Meanwhile, he entertained the Vir- 
ginian with the following reply — speaking against 
time, as his adversary had been doing ; 

"Powhatan, you must know, as I have but one 
God, I honor but one king. I live not here as your 
subject, but ycur friend, to pleasure you with what 
I can. By the gifts you bestow upon me, you gaine 
more than by trade ; yet would 3^ou visit mo as I 
doe 3^ou, you should know it is not our custome to 
sell our courtesies as a vendible commodit}^ Bring 
all your countrey with you for your guard, I will 
not dislike it as being overjealous. But, to content 
you, to-morrow I will leave my armes, and trust to 
your promise. I call you father, indeed, and as a 
father you shall see, I shall love you ; hut the small 
care you have of such a childe caused my men per- 
swade me to look to myselfe." 

How Powhatan must have grinned at this shrewd 
and affecting reproach ! It was uttered at a 
moment when it was full of significance. The con- 
ference was going on in one of the houses of the 
king. While Smith was speaking, the former was 
apprised of the breaking of the ice, and of the 
gradual approach of the boat to the shore. The 
wily savage instantly felt that the time for action 
on his part had come. It was not his policy to 
wait until Smith had increased his body-guard with 
all his force. This body-guard had been stationed 
at some little distance — at equal distances, probably, 
between the shore and the place of conference. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 261 

Smith had but one companion with him in the 
dwelling, and by this time Powhatan had environed 
the house with his warriors. Seizing a favorable 
moment, he left some of his women to keep Smith 
in conversation, and quietly stole off from the 
premises. Then it was that "our Captain" was 
made to comprehend his danger. He became aware 
of numbers of dusky savages, stalwart and sus- 

Eicious, who were showing themselves on every 
and. He found himself wholly beset with foes, 
and the chief of them, whose personal presence he 
had relied on for his safety, had disappeared with 
the agile dexterity of a serpent, winding away 
through the distant woods. But Smith possessed in 
perfection the Alexandrine method of cutting him- 
self out of a difficulty. He did not pause in this 
predicament. Thought and action grew together 
m a nature such as his, Avhich needed but the 
provocation, instantly to receive from his will the im- 
pulse requisite to safety. Without a word, closely 
followed by his companion, Russell, '^ Avith his pis- 
tols, sword and target, hee made such a passage 
among the naked divils, that, at his first shoot, they 
next him tumbled one over another, and the rest 
quickly fled, some one way, some another." Our 
Captain was a fierce personage when roused. His 
aspect was one to inspire terror. His face at 
ordinary times — sitting for his portrait, when per- 
sons most endeavor to appear amiable — wore a fierce 
gravity ; the expression of which, when in his wrath- 
ful mood, must have been very imposing and con- 
vincing to timid persons. With this countenance, 
and the auxiliar influence of svrord and pistol, he 
made his way through the discomfited savages, and 
regained his soldiers without injury. 

Roused to anger, and at the head of a stout body 
of well armed men, Smith was decidedly dangerous, 



262 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and it was important that Powhatan should explain 
bis conduct, and put such a construction upon his 

Eroceedinffs as should disarm the wrath which he 
ad rousea. He sent him, accordingly, an " ancient 
orator," who, prefacing his discourse with a present 
of " a great bracelet and a chaine of pearle," spoke 
as follows : 

" Captain Smith, our Werowance, fearing your 
guns, and knowing when the ice was broken you 
would bring more men upon him, has fled away for 
safety. The men whom you see here were only 
sent to take charge of his corn, and guard it from 
being stolen — which might happen without your 
knowledge. Though some of his people have been 
hurt by your violence, yet Powhatan still remains 
your friend. Thus will he continue. And now, 
since the ice is open, he wills that you send away 
your corn, and, if you would have his company, send 
away your guns also. They affright his people so 
that they dare not come to you, as he promised they 
should." 

It was the policy of Smith, baffled in his first ob- 
ject, to maintain appearances. Accordingly, still 
observing the utmost caution, he yet treated the 
savages with civility and favor. They had their 
motives of a like character for like behavior ; and 
their attentions grew sometimes almost too oppres- 
sive for the forbearance of our Captain. While one 
Eortion of them provided baskets, and conveyed on 
oard the pinnace the corn which he had bought, 
others were considerate enough to proffer their serv- 
ices in guarding and taking charc^e of the weapons 
of the English ; a proffer of service which we need 
scarcely say was gratefully declined. These were 
all " goodly, well-proportioned fellows, as grim as 
divils ; " in dealing with whom it became necessary 
occasionally to make such shows of war as to keep 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 263 

them in subordination. They had learned to rever- 
ence the implements of death used by the English, 
so that " the very sight of cocking our matches, and 
preparing to let fly," would prompt them " to leave 
their bowes and arrowes to our guard, and beare 
downe our corn on their backs. We needed not 
importune them to make dispatch." 

The ebb of the tide having left the barges of the 
English on the ooze, they were compelled to remain 
till high water, so that they were easily persuaded 
to return to their old quarters upon the sbore ; 
where, agreeably to instructions from their chief, 
the Indians employed all the merry sports they 
could devise to pacify the whites, and disarm them 
of their hostility. The policy was to disarm them 
of their caution also. The day was consumed in 
merriment and dancing, and with night came advices 
of a great feast which Powhatan was preparing to 
send them. With these agreeable assurances, and 
with the conviction that he had impressed the 
enemy with a reasonable feeling of his own inferi- 
ority, it might have been that Smith would have 
somewhat relaxed in that vigilance which had so 
repeatedly saved him before. But the same guard- 
ian angel to Avhom he already owed so much, the 
Christian child in a heathen household, Pocahontas, 
suddenly made her appearance in the wigwam w4iere 
our Captain found temporary shelter wuth his party, 
and opened his eyes to the danger that awaited 
him. Pow^hatan had not forgiven him his defeats 
— had not forgiven him the mortification of that 
feeling of inferiority which his heart had never felt 
till Smith penetrated his territories. He burned 
with a passion to procure the head of our hero, as, 
indeed, the true head of the colony. This obtained, 
the rest was easy. This, if his own experience had 
not taught it him, was the counsel of the traitorous 



264: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Dutchmen in his employ. It was the design of 
Powhatan to assail the English while they were 
gorging at their feast ; and while his cooks were 
preparing the dishes for his victims, his carvers 
were getting ready also. But we must let our 
author tell his own story, particularly as he always 
seems to excel — to rise above himself — in those pas- 
sages where he speaks of Pocahontas. 

" The eternal, all-seeing God did prevent him 
(Powhatan), and by a strange meanes. For Poca- 
hontas, his dearest Jewell and daughter, in that 
darke night came through the irksome woods, and 
tolde our Captaine great cheare should be sent us 
by and bye : but that Powhatan, and all the power 
he couhl make, Avould after come and kill us all, if 
they that brought it could not kill us with oure 
owne Aveapons when we were at supper. Therefore, 
if we would live, shee wished us presently to be 
gone." 

In requital for this information Smith " would 
have given her such things as she delighted in, but 
with the teares running downe her cheekes, she said 
she durst not be scene to have any ; for if Powhatan 
should know it she were but dead ; and so she ranne 
away by herself as she came." 

Nothing, of its kind, can well be more touching 
than this new instance of deep sympathy and at- 
tachment on the part of this strangely interesting 
forest child, for the white strangers and their cap- 
tain. To him, indeed, she seems to have been de- 
voted with a lilial passion much greater than that 
she felt for her natural sire. The anecdote affords 
a melancholy proof of the little hold which powder, 
even when rendered seemingly secure by natural 
ties, possesses upon the hearts of human beings. 
Here we find the old monarch, who has just declared 
himself the survivor of three generations of subjects, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 265 

betrayed by his own child, and by one of his chiefs * 
while in the pursuit of his most cherished objects. 
We have no reproaches for Pocahontas, and her con- 
duct is to be justified. She obeyed laws of nature 
and humanity, of tenderness and love, ^vhlch were 
far superior,*'in their force and efficacy, m a heart 
like hers, to any which spring simply from the ties 
of blood. But, even though his designs be ill, we 
cannot but regard the savage prince, in his age and 
infirmities, thus betraved by child and subject, 
somewhat as another Lear. He, too, was fond of 
his Cordelia. She was "the Jewell," J' the non- 
pareil " we are told, of his affections. Well might 
he exclaim, with the ancient Briton, in his hour of 
destruction — 

" How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is, 
To have a thankless child ! " 

But of her humane treason, for its motive was be- 
yond reproach, Powhatan knew nothing. Smith 
kept her secret. He was not heedless of her intelli- 
gence the truth of which he had very soon occasion 
to perceive. In less than an hour after her depar- 
ture " eight or ten lusty fellowes, with great platters 
of venison and other victuall," made their appear- 
ance, and invited them to sit and eat. These were 
very importunate with the English to extinguish 
their matches, the smoke of which they pretended 
made them sick. But Smith maintained his pre- 
cautions ; and, apprehensive of treachery m the 
preparation of the food, he made the Indians taste 
of every dish before he suffered his people to partake 
of it He then dismissed them, instructing them to 
return to Powhatan, and say that "he was conscious 
of his purposes and ready for his coming. For 
them, he knew of the bloody task assigned them, 

* The Chief of Warraskoyack. 



SiQQ LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

but would baulk them in this and all otlier vil- 
lainies. They might be gone ! " Other messengers 
from Powhatan followed these, at different periods 
throughout the night. They came as spies to see 
how the land lay, and returned disquieted, baffled 
by the vigilance of Smith, who kept his men to their 
arms all night. JSTothing farther was attempted ; 
and the savages who thronged about them, as with 
the morning they prepared for their departure, 
maintained a show of friendliness to the last. Kor 
was it deemed good policy to leave Powhatan him- 
self, without endeavoring to conciliate his suspicions 
and his anger. His wishes to this effect being 
known, it was resolved to leave at Werowocomoco 
one Edward Brynton, whose occupation was to pro- 
vide the king's table with wild-fowl. 

It may be thought somewhat singular that, after 
the occurrence of these events, such a measure should 
have been adopted ; but we must not forget that 
the object was still to maintain appearances; that 
Smith as yet had no sort of idea of the treachery of 
the Dutchmen still employed in Powhatan's serv- 
ice ; and that Brynton was really an increase of 
strength to the armed part}^ which he left behind 
hi?n, true (as he thought) to his interests, in the 
very household of his enemy. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 267 



CHAPTER IX. 

We have not hesitated to express our regret at 
the design of Captain Smith to seize the person of 
Powhatan. This proceeding is excused by a regard 
to the necessities of the colony, the modes of think- 
ing among military men at that period, and the 
obvious purpose of similar treachery with regard to 
himself, which was entertained by Powhatan. The 
excuse is no justification, in any examination upon 
just principles, of the merits of our hero. It must go 
for what it is worth. The error must be set down 
against his qualities of real merit, in proof of those 
imperfections of character which are found to im- 
pair the integrity, and diminish the nobleness of the 
very purest minds. In a moment of extreme ex- 
igency, when evidently nothing short of this degree 
of violence would suffice for the safety of the en- 
dangered party, there could, indeed, be no hesita- 
tion in the judgment which would declare in favor 
of that resolution and promptness hy which, even 
though at another's hurt, the required assurances of 
safety were to be found. Whether the present Avas 
such an exigency, as v/as that of Cortez in Mexico, 
is a question Avhich, in our very imperfect knowl- 
edge of all the facts in the situation of Smith, we 
are not exactly prepared to determine. From the 
details before us., it WH)uld not seem to be properly 
classed among those perilous extremes of circum- 
stance, by which the individual is permitted, at any 
sacrifice of moral and social law, to regain his secur- 
ities. But as it is not our desire to urge the perfect 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

purity and integrity of our Captain's character, we 
shall not undertake the unnecessary labor of prov- 
ing his freedom from error in the present instance. 
He was a stout and fearless soldier, of great courage 
and enterprise, great shrewdness, coolness, and com- 
mon sense ; full of a rude spirit of chivalry, that 
was sometimes fantastically virtuous, — but not wiser 
than his age, and not wholly free from those faults 
and vices which that age was so frequently found to 
sanction. It does not appear that public opinion in 
England found any fault with him for this attempt 
upon the person of the Indian emperor. If it did, it 
was rather in consequence of his failure than his at- 
tempt. We, at all events, are not sorry that he 
failed. The character and conduct of iPowhatan 
are such as entitle him to our respect and sympathy ; 
and though we forbear to censure his English ad- 
versary, we are not unwilling that the savage 
chieftain should still exhibit that care of his sub- 
jects, that vigilant guardianship of his territory, by 
which we are made to esteem the sovereign, even 
though in the dusky leader of a heathen tribe. 

Smith had scarcely set sail from Werowocomoco, 
before Powhatan reappeared. He had timely no- 
tice of all his movements, and with his departure, 
he despatched two of the Dutchmen with all haste 
to Jamestown. The scheme of these men was prob- 
ably suggested by themselves, by their knowledge 
of the habits of the colonists, and of the pretenses 
by which they could be most easily imposed upon. 
By this scheme, thev proposed not only to find favor 
in the sight of Powhatan, but to gratify their own 
cupidity. The king had set his atfections upon an 
English armory. Whether this was a mere passion 
of his taste, or was meant to promote his purposes 
for the expulsion of the whites, must be left to con- 
jecture. Both motives may be found at work com- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 269 

pelling bis desires ; in obedience to wbicb our 
Dutchmen, presenting themselves to Captain Wynne 
l)efore Smith could possibly return, assured him that 
everything was going on Avell ; that Smith having 
use for their arms had sent them for others ; for 
tools, for clothes, and other commodities, all of 
which were readily yielded them. Their cunning 
enabled them to effect an arrangement with six or 
seven seamen, who became their confederates in the 
appropriation of goods. By these they were soon 
furnished with everything that could be stolen 
easily — with swords and pike-heads, guns, shot, 
powder, and the like — by which the wishes of Pow- 
hatan for the English weapons were veiy tolerably 
gratified. The number of Indians always ])rowliiig 
about the fort, furnished great facilities for the con- 
veyance to their king of the commodities thus 
stolen. By these means, and the assistance of one 
of the Dutchmen, w^ho seems to have been a black- 
smith, he soon accumulated eight guns, as many 
pikes, fifty swords, and three hundred hatchets ; 
such a treasure as few Indian sovereigns of America 
were ever known to possess. Brvnton and Richard 
Salvage, two of the Englishmen in his emplo}^, ob- 
serving the readiness with which he accumulated 
these weapons, and the great diligence which the 
Dutchmen betrayed in procuring them for him, be- 
came alarmed as much for their own as the safety 
of the colony, and made an effort to escape ; but 
were detected, pursued, brought back, and kept for 
some time in momentary apprehension of death. 

Our Captain, meanwhile, was leisurely pursuing his 
way, seeking provisions at the different settlements 
along the river. Having arrived at Pamunkey, 
the seat of Opechancanough, who was a brother to 
Powhatan, either by blood or by adoption, they 
were received and for several days entertained hos* 



270 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

pitably, with mirth and feasting. A day was set 
aside for trade, of which the surrounding country 
was properly apprised. Leaving his boats on this 
occasion, Smith, with fifteen others, went up to the 
viUage of the chief, about a quarter of a mile from 
the river, which, to their surprise, they found en- 
tirely aba^ndoned by the people, and stript of all its 
goods and furniture. Such a proceeding looked ex- 
ceedingly suspicious, particularly on a day set apart 
for trade, when, instead of being abandoned, the 
settlement should have shown all the life and bustle 
of a market-town in fairing time. But the strangers 
had not long been present before the chief arrived, 
followed by a stout band of warriors. These brought 
with them bows and arrows in abundance, but such 
a trifling supply of provisions, and those charged for 
at such enormous prices, that our Captain readily 
conceived that they were to be used only as a bait, 
by which to delude their customers. This extorted 
from him the following remonstrance : 

" Opechancanough, the great love you professe 
with your tongue, seemes meere deceet by your ac- 
tions. Last yeare you kindly fraughted our ship ; 
but now you invite me to starve with hunger. You 
know my want, and I your plenty ; — of which, by 
some meanes, I must have part. Eemember, it is fit 
for kings to keepe their promise. Here are my com- 
modities. Take your choice. What remains I will 
sell in fair bargains to your people." 

Opechancanough took this speech in good part, 
and the corn which had been brought was disposed 
of to the whites on terms which they thought reason- 
able. The Indian chief promised the next day that 
the supplies should be more satisfactory. Accord- 
ingly, at the usual hour. Smith, with his fifteen men, 
once more proceeded to the dwelling of the chief. 
Here they found a few persons newly arrived with 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 271 

their baskets. Opechancanough soon made his ap- 
pearance; but it was observed that his courtesies 
and cheerfulness seemed strained and unnatural. He 
was at some pains to assure them of the trouble he 
had taken in having supplies brought in ; but even 
while he spoke, news was brought to Smith, by Mr. 
Eussell, that they were betrayed, for that the house 
was surrounded by no less than seven hundred 
armed savages. The chief saw that his plot was 
discovered, and betrayed his intentions by his anx- 
iety and fear. Smith's own followers exhibited 
signs of dismay, but were encouraged by their leader 
in the following language : 

" My worthy countrymen," said he, " were the 
mischiefe from my seeming friends no greater than 
our danger from*^ these enemies, I should not care 
were they as many more. But it is my torment, 
that, though I may escape from these, our worthy 
councill, with their open-mouthed minions, will make 
me such a peace-breaker in the opinion of those in 
England, as will breake my necke. I could wish 
those persons to be here now, that make these 
seeme saints, and me an oppressor. But this is the 
worst of all, wherein I pray you to aid me with 
your opinions. Shoulde we beginne with them and 
surprise the king, we cannot keepe him well, and at 
the same time defend ourselves. If we should eache 
kill our man, and disperse the rest, we should still 
starve for victuall, getting nothing more than the 
bodies that are slaine. As for their fury, that is 
the least danger, for well you know, that, being 
alone assaulted with two or three hundred of them, 
I made them, by the helpe of God, compound to 
save m}^ life. And wee are sixteene, and they hut 
seaven hundred at the most ; assure yourselves, 
therefore, that if you dare stand but as I doe, to dis- 
charge your peeces, the very smoke will be sufficient 



272 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

to affright them. Yet, howsoever, let us fight like 
men, not die like sheepe. By such meanes, you 
know, God hath oft delivered mee, and will, I trust, 
doe so now. But first let mee deale with them, to 
bring it to passe. "We may fight for something, and 
draw them to it by conditions. If you like this mo- 
tion, promise me you will be valiant.-' 

This speech, so' cool and confident, reassured his 
men. They swore to follow him, and do as he com- 
manded. The time did not permit much argument, 
and we must suppose that they kept the Indian chief 
in a tacit sort of custody while this discussion pro- 
ceeded. This over, our Captain turned to him, and 
said : " I see, Opechancanough, your plot to murder 
me, but I feare it not. As yet, youre men and mine 
have done no harme, but by our direction. Take, 
therefore, your weapons. You see mine. My body 
shall bee as naked as j^ours. The island in your 
river is a fit place, if you be contented. There let 
us two fight it out, and tije survivor shall be lord 
and master over all our men. If you have not 
enough, take time to fetch more, and bring what 
number you will. Only let your men bring, each of 
them, a basket of corne, against all of which I will 
stake the value in copper, and the conqueror shall 
take the whole." 

This was in the true spirit of chivalry. It re- 
minds us of our hero before the walls of Eegall. It 
is evident he thought of adding the head of Ope- 
chancanough to those of the three Turks already 
emblazoned on his shield. But to this the Indian 
chief Avas no ways inclined. His notions of Avar 
implied no such unnecessar}^ personal risks. He 
preferred the subtler game Avhich he had begun to 
play, and Avas evidently disposed to forego none of 
his advantages. Still, he disclaimed hostility, pro- 
fessed nothing but friendship, and, to prove it, in- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 273 

vited Smith to go with him to the entrance of tiie 
cabin, where he had a great present in waiting for 
him. This was a bait to draw him into an ambush 
of two hundred ; thirty others lying concealed be- 
hind a fallen tree, each with his arrow ready on the 
string. Commanding one of his men to receive this 
present, Smith himself refused to go. The rest of 
his party volunteered to do so. But he would not 
suffer this. He was in no mood for farther trifling. 
Satisfied of the treachery of Opechancanough, he 
resolved to bring the matter to such an issue as 
would reconcile all the inequalities of numbers. 
Accordingly, commanding '' Lieutenant Percie, Mas- 
ter West, and the rest, to make good the house," 
he ordered two others to guard the door ; then, sud- 
denly seizing upon the long scalp-lock of the Indian 
chief, who in size was a giant to our Captain, he 
dragged him from amidst the circle of forty or fifty 
warriors by whom he was encircled, and clapped a 
loaded pistol to his breast. This boldness paralyzed 
the chief and all his captains, and in this manner 
Smith drew him forth, in the sight of all his people, 
holding him in a sort of security for the forbearance 
of his followers. The effect was magical. Accus- 
tomed to venerate as sacred the persons of their 
sovereigns, they regarded with awe the individual 
who could thus profane them without dread of 
punishment. They dropped their weapons at the 
humiliating spectacle. Their chief had already 
yielded his — " delivering to the Captaine his vam- 
brace, bow and arrowes," and offering his tribute in 
a sober "sadnesse," which declared his shame and 
apprehensions, if not his compunction. With his 
hand still wreathed in his hair, Smith summoned 
the subjects of his prisoner about him, and gave 
them a speech after his usual fashion. 
"I see, you Pamunkees," he said, 'Hhe great 
l8 



274 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

desire you have to kill me ; and my long suffering 
your injuries hath emboldened you to this presump- 
tion. The cause which has made me forbear your 
insolence is the promise I made you, before the God 
I serve, to be your friend till you give me just cause 
to be your enemy. If I keepe this vow, my God 
will keepe me, and you cannot do me hurt. If I 
break it lie will destroy me» But if you shoot but 
one arrow to shed the'blood of any of my men, or 
steale the least of these beads and copper, which now 
lie at my feet, I will not cease to revenge so long as 
there is one of your nation to answer to the name 
of Pamaunkee. I am not now at Kassaweak, half 
drowned with myre, as when you took me prisoner ; 
yet for your good usage, and sparing of me then, I 
so affect you that your denyalsof your trechery doe 
halfe persuade me to mistake m3^selfe. But if I be 
the marke you ayme at, here I stand, shoot he that 
dare. You promised to fraught my ship ere I de- 
parted, and so you shall, or I will load her with 
your dead carcases. Yet, if as friends you will 
come and trade with me, I will not trouble you. 
Your king shall be free, and shall be my friend, for 
I am not come for the hurt of him, or of any among 
you." 

The condition in which he kept their king made 
them very placable. They yielded ready obedience 
to his requisitions, and men, women and children, 
brought in the supplies, in such abundance, that our 
Captain, already greatly fatigued, was tired of re- 
ceiving them. Leaving this duty to two of his men, 
and having released his captive, he withdrew into 
one of the cabins for the purpose of repose. Mean- 
while, the guard became remiss, and, too soon as- 
sured of the docility of the savages, were soon care- 
lessly dispersed among them. The latter resumed 
their weapons, and Smith, vigilant even in sleep, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 216 

was awakened to find forty or fifty of their choice 
warriors pressing into the apartment where he slept, 
each armed with a heavy war club, or an English 
sword. The haste with which their entrance was 
made fortunately awakened him in season. "Ealfe 
amazed with this suddaine sight, he betooke him 
straight to his sword and target ; Mr. Crashaw and 
some others charged in like manner," and the house 
was soon cleared of the intruders. The king apolo- 
gized, in a long speech, for the intrusion ; and his 
people found it advisable to assume the virtue of 
good humor and good fellowship with the powerful 
stranger whom they so vainly strove to circumvent, 
even if they felt it not. Their attempts upon him 
had invariably resulted in their ov/n defeat and dis- 
aster ; and our hero had the genuine English shrewd- 
ness always to exact a profit for his people from all 
the failures of their enemies. He knew how to 
make them pay the expenses of the war. 

It was while our Captain was thus exploring the 
country for supplies, to guard against famine in the 
colony, that a melanchoh^ event ha])pened at the 
fort. "^ It seems that Mr. Scrivener, whom Smith had 
hitherto been always disposed to favor, had some- 
what declined in affection towards the President, 
and under that sinister influence which, in England 
and the colony, had alwa3^sstul)bornl3^ fought agaiust 
the influence of our hero, had at length determined 
to set up in some measure for himself. Accord- 
ingly, in order to exercise something like a separate 
command, he took advantage of Smith's absence to 
visit a contiguous island ; with what object in view 
is not mentioned. He succeeded in persuading 
Captain Waldo to join him, though AYaldo had been 
especially charged by Smith not to be absent from 
the fort, but to be in readiness to second his per- 
formances. Scrivener, with Waldo, Gosnold, and 



276 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

eight others, embarked on the enterprise. The 
weather was extremely cold, the river |3artly frozen, 
and the wind violent. The boat was swamped, and 
all in her were drowned. The bodies were recov- 
ered by the savages, from whom came the first in- 
telligence to the fort of the sad disaster. There, 
nobody could be found to convey the melancholy 
tidings to the President, then supposed to be still at 
Werowocomoco, until a brave fellow, named Eichard 
Wyffin, undertook, alone, the performance of this 
mission. It was one of many difficulties and dan- 
gers. He first proceeded to the dwelling of Pow- 
hatan, where he lodged that night. Here, not find- 
ing the President, and perceiving the great prepara- 
tions which Powhatan was making for war, his 
Avorst fears were aroused for his own and the safety 
of the persons Avhom he sought. And the danger 
seems to have been pressing in his own instance. 
But for the interference of Pocahontas— who seems 
to have been always present when the duty of an 
angel was to be done — he might have fallen a vic- 
tim to his generous zeal. " Pocahontas hid him for 
a time, and sent those who pursued him the cleane 
contrary way to seeke him ; but by her meanes, and 
extraordinary bribes, and much trouble, in three 
dayes travell at length he found us in the midst of 
these turmoyles." Swearing Wyffin to secrecy, and 
dissembling his own grief, so that his company 
should not be seen to despond while among their 
enemies, Smith went aboard his vessel, leaving 
Opechancanough free the night that he received 
these tidings. That he left this powerful chief at 
liberty, was only with the view the more success- 
fully to strike at higher game. He felt that, though 
there was no avowed war between Powhatan and 
himself, their relations were, nevertheless, suffi- 
ciently hostile to justify the prosecution of his first 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 277 

design ; and liis experience, before returning to 
Jamestown, was of a sort to confirm him in this 
purpose. He was advised that the Indian emperor 
had issued his commands to his subjects, to procure 
his death by all means in their power ; and the poor 
savages, in obedience to these orders, had baited the 
shores with grain ; which, however, he was not suf- 
fered to approach, unless by leaving behind him all 
his weapons. The first show of his coming, gun in 
hand, was the signal for carrying their baskets out of 
sight. They affected to have come unarmed, simply 
for the purpose of trade, though with such a people 
and in such a country, it was well known that every 
bush and tree would afford a sufficient armory of 
arrows for the Pa.-thian multitudes. Still, they 
preferred approaching him in a peaceful aspect. 
Such was their terror of his prowess that, but for 
the commands of their sovereign, the idea of meet- 
ing him in a conflict was as " hateful to them as 
hanging." And thus the parties gazed wistfully 
upon each other, the one from the shore, the other 
from the river — they upon Smith's weapons, and he 
upon their baskets of corn. But when he saw them 
beginning to depart with their produce " being un- 
willing to lose such bootie," he so judiciously dis- 
posed the pinnace and barges, as to enable the party 
on board to form a cover to his men, while he, and 
three others, armed, took a party ashore, unarmed, 
to receive the corn they brought. The Indians 
" flocked before him in heapes, and the banke serv- 
ing as a trench for retreat, he drew them fayre open 
to his ambuscadoes." Opechancanough, knowing 
his party to be mostly unarmed, came down upon 
him with two or three hundred men, marching in 
*' the forme of two half moones," the better to en- 
close the English. They brought with them some 
twenty men and several women bearing painted 



2Y8 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

baskets. As they drew nigh, and when they thought 
the bait had taken, and that they had sufficiently 
environed the whites, the persons, men and women, 
bearing the grain, threw down their baskets and 
fled. Sut the fear of the assailants, even when they 
thought their purpose sure, was such as scarcely 
to suffer them to fix their shafts upon the string. 
Just then, as if in mercy. Smith gave the signal to 
his party in ambush, and they showed themselves 
without firing a shot. At this sight the savages 
took to flight, " esteeming their heelesfor their best 
advantage." We are permitted to suppose that 
Smith providently gathered up the scattered baskets. 
Powhatan had truly described the terrors with 
which our Captain had inspired the savages, when 
he said, if a twig was heard to break in the forest, 
they cried out, " Here comes Captain Smith." Fear- 
ing to meet him in battle, failing to delude him by 
their artifices, they attempted his destruction by 
practises which we have not often been wont to 
ascribe to our aborigines. Sending down one of his 
vessels, probably with the supplies he had procured, 
to Jamestown, he still remained in the neighborhood 
of Pamunkee, in which there was still an abundance 
of provision which he hoped to secure by barter. 
The Indians, under new professions of terror and 
friendship, came in and expressed a willingness to 
freight his vessel, in order to disarm his hostility. 
They believed, or pretended to believe, that he had 
despatched one of his boats for fresh supplies of 
men. In this mood, whether sincere or feigned, 
they employed themselves for five or six days 
in bringing in grain, through frost and snow, on 
their naked backs, from all parts of the coun- 
try. In the meantime, Smith and several of his 
party found themselves poisoned by some of the 
dainties with which the savages had^supplied them. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 279 

But their art was not equal to their malice. The 
poison sickened the whites, but was expelled, 
without proving fatal in a single instance. We- 
euUanoiOy sl stout young Indian, finding himself 
suspected of the crime, and being surrounded by 
forty or fifty of his companions at a moment when 
Smith had but a few men about him, braved him 
with a good deal of insolence. But our Captain, 
not regarding the inequality of numbers, promptly 
laid his cudgel over the shoulders of the savage, and 
kicked him out of sight, "as scorning to doe him 
any worse mischief e." This drove his companions 
into the woods, " thinking they had done a great 
matter to have so well escaped." 

In this tour in search of provisions, our Captain 
explored the " countries of Youghtanund and 3fat- 
tapanient^ where the people imparted what little 
they had with such complaints and tears from the 
eyes of women and children," as would have moved 
with compassion an}'" Christian heart. Yet had the 
search been made in October, November, and De- 
cember, or when Newport was making his idle dis- 
covery of the country of the Monacans, there would 
have been no sort of difficulty in procuring all 
the provisions they required. "Men may tliinke 
it strange," says our author, in a passage that 
would seem to be apologetic in its object, " that 
there should be such a strife for a little corne, but 
had it been gold with more ease we might have got 
it ; and had it lacked, the whole colony had starved." 
Such an exigency, which the forethought of the 
President soon perceived, may well be urged in ex- 
tenuation of proceedings which might otherwise 
seem rather harsh than decisive. 



2S0 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER X. 

It was somewhat with the view of disarming the 
caution of Powhatan, that our Captain treated the 
people of Opechancanough w^ith sorauchindidgence. 
To seem on friendly terms with them, and to linger 
with the apparent view to trade, was to lessen the 
suspicions of the emperor, and keep hira still at 
"Werowocomoco. Believing this object to have been 
attained. Smith, on leaving Pamunkee, suddenly 
turned his prow up the river, and once more sought 
the habitation of Powhatan ; resolved on effectmg, 
if possible, his original design of surprising him in 
the midst of his provisions. Approaching the town 
in secret, he sent two of his party, " Mr. w yffin and 
Mr. Coe," ashore to discover and make way for his in- 
tended project. " Those damned Dutchmen," says 
our indignant author, "had caused Powhatan to 
abandon his new house and Werowocomoco, and to 
carry aw\ay all his corn and provision." Such also 
was the ill-feeling for the whites whom he had left 
behind him, that the two emissaries of Smith were 
in some doubt whether they should escape with their 
lives. Baffled in his scheme, and seeing that noth- 
ing more was to be obtained in this neighborhood, he 
returned with all possible speed to Jamestown, car- 
rying with him two hundred pounds of deer suet, 
and nearly five hundred bushels of corn ; all of which 
was procured at a cost of twenty-five pounds' weight 
of copper, and fifty of beads and iron. 

Here, at the close of this expedition, our author 
deems it necessary to excuse the gentleness and great 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 281 

forbearance which Smith exhibited in thus dealing 
with the savages, and thus shows us the difficulty of 
applying the social and moral standards of the pres- 
ent time to the conduct of that period. "These 
temporizing proceedings to some may seeme too 
charitable to such a daily daring, trecherous people : 
to others not pleasing that we washed not the ground 
with their blonds, nor showed such strange inven- 
tions in mangling, murdering, ransacking, and des- 
troying (as did the Spanyards) the simple bodies of 
such ignorant soules ; nor delightful, because not 
stuffed with relations of heapes and mynes of gold 
and silver ; nor such rare commodities as the Portu- 
gals and Spanyards found in the East and West 
Indies. * * * Jt was the Spanyards good hap to 
happen in parts where such was the number of 
people as to enable them so to improve the earth that 
it afiPorded food at all seasons. And time had 
brought their arts to so much perfection as to give 
them the free use of gold and silver, together with 
the most of those commodities which the country 
was able to afford. What the Spanyard got was 
chiefly the spoyle and pillage of the people, and not 
the labours of their owne hands. But had those 
fruitful countries beene as salvage, as barbarous, as 
ill-peopled, as little planted, laboured and manured 
as Virginia, it is likely that their labours would have 
brought as little profit as our owne. Had Virginia 
beene so peopled, and so adorned with such store of 
precious Jewells and rich commodities as the Indies, 
then, indeed, might the world have traduced us and 
our merits, and nave made shame and infamy our 
reward, had we not gotten and done as much by their 
(the Spaniards) examples might properly be expected 
from us. * * * But we chanced in a land even as 
God made it, where we found only an idle, im- 
provident, and scattered people, ignorant of the 



282 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

knowledge of gold and siWer, and carelesse of any 
thing but from band to mouth. Nothing was here 
to encourage us but what nature afforded. And this 
could not be brought to recompense our paines, de- 
fray our charges, and satisfie our adventurers, until 
we* could discover the count rev, subdue the people, 
bring them to be tractable, civill, and industrious, 
and teach them trades, so that the fruits of their 
labors might make us some return; or until we 
could plant such colonies of our owne, whose first 
necessit}'- would be to make provision how to live 
themselves. -^^ * * But to conclude, I onely say this 
for those that the three first yeares began this 
plantation ; notwithstanding all their factions, muti- 
nies, and miseries, so gently corrected and well 
prevented;" let them peruse the histories of Span- 
ish conquest and discovery, "and tell me how 
many ever with such small meanes as a barge of 
22 tons, sometimes with seaven, eight, or nine, or 
but at most, twelve or sixteene men, did ever dis- 
cover so many fay re and navigable rivers, subject 
so many severall kings, people, and nations to 
obedience and contribution, and all with so little 
blonds hed." 

The boast contained in this passage is an equally 
honorable and becoming one. It is truly astonish- 
ing how much was done by the prudence and fore- 
thought of this man ; by his coolness and steady 
courage, and real benevolence ; and how much was 
forborne of crime and bloodshed, which had been 
sure to follow, in such a country, and dealing- with 
such a people, had the leader been wanton in the 
use of power, profligate of human life, and not prop- 
erly considerate of the feeble and simple savages 
whom it was his fortune to encounter. And the 
moral of his progress is to be found in the state- 
jnent here contained of his general principles ; to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 288 

" discover the countrey, subdue the people, bring 
them to be tractable, civill and industrious ; " in 
order that the resources of their own nature, and 
the virtues of the soil and climate, might at once be 
brought into just fruition. And this is the highest 
purpose of human benevolence. We are to judge 
of a hero's claims, not by this or that single scheme 
or action — call it crime and error if you please — but 
by what he has forborne of crime and error, and 
what he has resisted of temptation. Thus examined, 
the deeds and enterprises of Smith will honorably 
compare with those of any hero to be found in the 
progress of a commercial age and people. To have 
done so much with so little; in the teeth of dis- 
content and faction ; with foes without, and treach- 
ery within the settlement ; with so much provo- 
cation to anger and severity, yet with so great 
toleration and pity for the offender ; so much firm- 
ness with so much mercy ; and such various resource 
against such and so many unlooked-for annoyances 
and disasters ; — sutRcien'tly establishes to posterity 
the high and remarkable endowments and merits of 
our subject. But the facts in his career need no 
illustrative commentary. They speak for them- 
selves. 

Eeturning to Jamestown, and making a general 
examination into the atfairs of the colony, he found 
no reason to be satisfied with the doings of those he 
left behind him. Their tools and weapons were lost 
or stolen ; the provision in store had been suffered 
to rot, was half destroyed by worms and rats, and 
in such condition that the hogs would scarcely eat 
it. Fortunately, it was found, upon due calculation, 
that the supplies which he had just procured would 
suffice until the next harvest. With the dread of 
famine at an end for the present, all care about 
procuring provision was abandoned, and the whole 



284 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

company was divided into squads of ten or fifteen, 
and assigned to the necessary duties of the colony. 
Six hours each day were devoted to their tasks, the 
rest in pastimes and merry exercises. But such was 
the untowardness of many among them, to whom 
labor was equally new and irksome, that our Pres- 
ident was compelled to give them sharp counsel 
after his peculiar fashion. 

" Countrymen," he said, " the long experience of 
our late miseries, I hope, is sufficient to persuade 
every one to a present correction of himselfe. Thinke 
not that either my paines, nor the adventurers' 
purses, will ever maintain 3^ou in idlesse and sloathe. 
1 speake not this to you all, for divers of you I 
know deserve both honor and reward, much better 
than is here to be had ; but the greater part must 
be more industrious or starve ; however you have 
been heretofore tollerated by the autlioritie of the 
Councell. You see now that power resteth wholly 
in mj^selfe. You must obey this now for a law, that 
he that will not work (except by sickness he is dis- 
abled) shall not eate. The labours of thirtie or f ortie 
honest and industrious men shall not be consumed to 
maintain an hundred and fiftie idle loyterers. And 
though you presume the authoritie here is but a 
shadow, and that I dare not touch the lives of any 
lest my owne shoulde answer it, 3^et will you see by 
the contents of the Letters Patent, which shall be 
read to you each week, that the very contrary is the 
case. I would wish you, therefore, without con- 
tempt of my authoritie, to study to observe the 
orders that I have here set down; for there are 
now no more councellers to protect you and to curbe 
my endeavours. He that offendeth^ therefore, shall 
most assuredly meet due punishment." 

The members of the Council, if we remember, 
Scrivener, Waldo, and others, perished in the boat 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 285 

while Smith was at Pamunkee. He, as President 
of the colony, was left with the sole authority. 
His speech is to the purpose. It speaks the man of 
business and of resolution, and was not without its 
effect, we may suppose. But, to encourage the 
good, and to spur the sluggish to amendment, he 
prepared a table or register of each man's name, 
with a summary notice of his daily conduct. This 
was placed conspicuously where it could be seen 
by all, and thus become *' a publicke memoriall of 
every man's deserts." This, too', had its influence. 
Many became very industrious, though quite as 
many were only to be goaded to their tasks by pun- 
ishment. He had so contrived their duties that they 
found it impossible to deceive him. His eye was 
everywhere, on all things and persons, and he pos- 
sessed, in rare degree, that faculty of vision which 
enables the master to pierce through the secret 
bosom, and discern all its secrets. But there were 
some practises which he could not fathom — some of- 
fenders who contrived to baffle even his penetration. 
Still, there was a daily loss of tools and weapons, 
and common sense naturally led them to conceive 
that these found their way to the Indians, by whom 
they were much desired. The thefts were committed 
by those in the fort, who had become confederates 
with the Dutchmen sent to Powhatan. At one time, 
while Smith was at Pamunkee, these confederates, 
to the number of five, had stolen aw^ay from the 
colony, and were on their wa}^ to Powhatan, when 
they were met by Mr. Crashaw and Mr. Ford, who 
had been despatched to Jamestown from Pamunkee, 
by Smith. To these they gave some plausible state- 
ment, accounting for their presence on the road, and, 
the better to baffle their suspicions, they returned 
with these gentlemen to the settlement, resuming 
their old business of peculation. Powder and shot, 



2SC WFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. ; 

tools and weapons, disappeared with unaccountable 
rapidity under their agency, leaving no clue by 
wbi 'li Ihey could be found or followed. Meantime, 
the Dutchmen somewhat wondered why their con- 
federates had not followed them as had been prom- 
ised. They were employed by the savage emperor, 
not in palace building, but in teaching himself and 
warriors the proper use of the English weapons. 
To solve their doubts in relation to the delay of their 
associates, they sent one of their company, named 
Francis, disguised like an Indian. This fellow made 
his way to the glass-house in. the forest, about a 
mile from Jamestown. This was the common place 
of rendezvous for these conspirators. Here they 
arranged a scheme for taking or putting Captain 
Smith to death ; forty Indians lying in ambush, for 
some time, in expectation of his appearance. But 
his good genius again baffled them, and, in the 
meantime, tidings of the visit of Francis, and the 
disguise which he wore, reached his ears. His plans 
were decisive. The fellow^ escaped the party that 
went to the glass-house to apprehend hira, but did 
not escape another party of twenty men, whom 
Smith despatched to cover the road between James- 
town and the domains of Powhatan. He was cap- 
tured and brought back, but, before this took place, 
our Captain experienced an adventure of consider- 
able clanger, from which it required all his dexterity 
and courage to escape. Return mg from the glass- 
house alone, after he had sent off the twenty soldiers 
in pursuit of the fugitive, he suddenlj^ encountered 
the King of Paspahegh, a stalwart savage of large 
stature. To this chief, it appears that the ambush 
had been entrusted by which Smith was to perish. 
But Smith's footsteps did not incline in the direc- 
tion where the Indians were concealed, and, throw- 
ing himself in his way, the object of the chief was 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 2S7 

to beguile his victim in the required direction. But 
either the art of the savage was too rude, or our 
Captain had grown cautious and suspicious from a 
freauent knowledge of his danger, and the attempts 
of the chief were unavailing. Desperate in his de- 
sign, and stimulated to the attempt by the urgent 
wishes of Powhatan, he conceived the idea, as Smith 
was alone, and armed only with a falchion, of ac- 
complishing the deed himself. But the attempt to 
shoot him with his arrow failed in consequence of 
his having approached too nearly to his enemy. 
Smith was enabled to close in with him, before the 
shaft could be dismissed from the string. The 
grapple now between them was one for life and 
death, and to prevent the Captain from drawing his 
falchion, as he had been prevented from using his 
bow, the stout savage grappled him with equal dex- 
terity and courage. The Indian seems to have been 
the most powerful man of the two, was large of 
frame and muscular, though less agile, perhaps, and 
possibl}^ not so good a wrestler as our Captain. But 
he succeeded, by main force, in dragging him into 
the river, where they struggled for some time in the 
water, neither having the advantage. At length a 
fortunate movement enabled Smith to get his fingers 
fairly clutched about the naked throat of his dusky 
opponent. This he griped with such hearty good 
will, that the savage, half-strangled, succumbed to 
his conqueror ; — who, drawing his falchion, and 
about to cut off the head of his captive, was per- 
suaded to spare him by his pitiful entreaties for life. 
But he made him prisoner, and, under the edge of the 
uplifted sword, drove him into Jamestown and made 
him fast in chains. 

Here he proved a witness for the conviction of the 
Dutchman, Francis. This traitor, put upon trial, 
offered but a lame plea to the charges urged against 



288 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

him. The confession of Paspahegh was conclusive 
of his guilt; and, to use the phrase of our authority, 
which leaves us somewhat doubtful of his punish- 
ment, " he went by the heeles," accordingly. But 
his life was spared by Smith, who, as a conqueror, 
was always merciful ; — spared, at this time, to be 
reserved for a worse fate, equally well deserved, 
hereafter. Francis, after Smith had left the colony, 
and its government had fallen into other hands, con- 
trived to escape a second time to Powhatan. To 
this wily monarch, he promised to play the same 
game with the new governor. Lord Delaware, 
which he had played with Smith. But Powhatan 
had become much more suspicious with increase of 
experience ; and, telling the traitor that he who 
had betrayed Smith to him, would be just as likely 
to betray him to Delaware, he commanded his brains 
to be beaten out. And thus the miserable wretch 
rushed only to his doom at last. 

Paspahegh was kept some time in prison, Smith 
proposing to exchange him for the Dutchman left 
with Powhatan. But, either they were not willing 
to return, or Powhatan would not suffer them ; and 
while the negotiations for this object were in prog- 
ress, Paspahegh contrived, during a temporary ab- 
sence of Smith, to escape from prison. He Avas pur- 
sued by Captain Winne, but his faithful subjects 
covered his flight with such troops of warriors who 
resolutely braved the combat, freely exchanging 
shaft for shot, that he succeeded in getting off 
safely. Eeturning to the fort, and learning of these 
events, Smith captured two Indians, Kemps and 
Tussore — "the two most exact villains in all the 
country," — " who would betray both king and kin- 
dred for a piece of copper." These he sent with a 
party of fifty choice men, under Captain Winne and 
Lieutenant Percy, in pursuit of the fugitive chief. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 289 

They were to guide the soldiers where he was con- 
cealed. But Winne did not follow Smith's counsel, 
nor the guidance of his Indians, but, trilling away 
the night when he should have pushed forward with 
all his strength, he found the savages prepared for 
him, in all their might, by the dawn of day. They 
defied him to the combat, and the two parties ex- 
changed shots at a distance so respectful, as to ex- 
pose nobody to hurt on either side. Winne and his 
Earty returned to Jamestown, after burning a few 
ouses and capturing a few canoes. 
Smith was dissatisfied with this result, and took 
the field himself. He feared that the savages 
would be encouraged by this non-performance of 
his soldiers, and soon " began himselfe againe to try 
conclusions " with his Avarlike neighbors, " whereby 
six or seven were slaine, and as many made pris- 
oners." lie was resolved that their punishment 
should make them fear him. He burnt their houses, 
took their boats, removed their fishing weirs to his 
own waters, and was passing by Paspahegh towards 
Chickahominv, in order to extend his vengeance to 
all the deserv.ing, when he was encountered by a 
large body of the Paspaheghians, who bravely pre- 
pared to try his strength. But when, at the first 
encounter, they discovered our Captain instead of 
Winne, at the head of theEnglish, they threw down 
their weapons, and entreated peace. His very 
name and presence were enough. One of their ora- 
tors, speaking for the rest, thus addressed him: 
" Captain Smith, the chief, my master, is here pre- 
sent with this company. It was Captain Winne, 
and not you, of whom he thought to be avenged. 
If he hath offended you in escaping from imprison- 
ment, you must remember that fishes swim, fowles 
fly, and the very beasts strive to escape the snare. 
Blame him not, therefore, being a man, that he 
19 



290 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

hath done in like manner. He would entreat 3'ou 
to remember your being a prisoner, what paines he 
took to save your life. If, since that time, he hath 
injured you, he was compelled to it by another. 
You too, have already amply revenged yourself, to 
our too great losse. Do not destroy us as you now 
seem to desire. We are here to implore your friend- 
ship — to entreat that we be permitted to enjoy our 
houses and to plant our fields, in whose fruit you 
shall participate ; otherwise, you will be the suf- 
ferers if you drive us away to other places. We 
can plant, but you cannot live lacking our harvests. 
Proceed in your revenge, and we will abandon the 
country. Promise us peace, and we will believe 
you." 

This " worthy discourse " which, as our author 
justly writes, " deserveth to be remembered," had 
its effect. The cliief was forgiven, peace was made 
between the parties, and they separated good 
friends ; and so continued till Smith left the country. 
The wonderful influence Avhich our adventurer pos- 
sessed over the minds of the aborigines, was to be 
still farther increased by a circumstance which hap- 
pened soon after his return to the colony. There, 
It had been discovered that the people of Chicka- 
hominy, who had always shown themselves very af- 
fectionate and friendly, were yet disposed to be 
very thievish. A pistol being stolen, and the thief 
escaping, his two brothers, who were known to be 
liis confederates, were taken into custod}^ One of 
them, after a brief imprisonment, was suffered to 
go free, with a message to the thief that if the 
pistol was not restored within twelve hours, the 
brother left in prison would be hung. The message 
was effectual. The messenger returned before mid- 
night, bringing the pistol but seemed to have re- 
turned too late. The season was one of great sever- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 291 

ity, and Captain Smith, commiserating the cold and 
naked condition of the poor wretch left in prison, 
sent him food, and a supply of charcoal, with which 
to make a fire. Ignorant of the deadly properties 
of the burning charcoal in a close apartment, the 
poor Indian, when his brother was admitted to his 
prison, was found lifeless. Bitterly did the sur- 
vivor lament the premature death of his kinsman; 
and so much did Smith sympathize with him in his 
cruel sorrow and disappointment that he confidently 
promised the wailing savage, if he would be quietj 
that he would restore the dead man to life. It was 
one of those spontaneous, irrepressible impulses of a 
generous wish, which prompted this promise, for he 
tells us he had little thought that the victim could 
be recovered. Yet he Avent to work Avith all his 
industry and skill, and the will to achieve has in it- 
self a virtue which half ensures success to its per- 
formances. Aqua vitcB, that power, potent as it 
has proved for evil, has its virtues also ; and, AA^th 
vinegar, proved, on the present occasion, a most 
fortunate specific. The poor saA^age, through Gc^d's 
blessing, was restored to consciousness ; but the ef- 
fects of the charcoal promised to be fatal to his in- 
tellect. To restore him to his proper senses was an- 
other task of difficulty imposed upon him by the 
entreaties of the anxious kinsman, and this also 
Smith promised to achieve. Succeeding in this by 
such simple means as an experienced soldier, or 
traveler, Avould naturally have learned to use, our 
Captain gained the reputation among the Indians 
of having raised the dead. Another circumstance 
serA^ed to increase the respect in Avhich the English 
and their Captain Avere held by the simple natives. 
An " ingenious saTage " of Powhatan's had pro- 
cured by theft, or barter with the thief, a bag of 
gunpoAA^der, and the back piece of a suit of armor. 



292 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

To show his superior knowledge, the fellow had 
gathered several of his companions around hira, and 
proceeded to dry the powder, as he had seen the 
soldiers practise the operation upon the armor. He 
dried it a little too long for his credit and his life. 
The powder exploded, and destroyed the experi- 
menter, and one or two more. Others were so 
much scorched, as to produce a wholesome distrust 
in the minds of the whole nation, of the virtues of 
a commodity so quick to take fire. The result was 
highly important to our English. " These, and 
many other such petty accidents, so amazed and 
affrighted both Powhatan and all his people, that 
their conscientiousness returned to them." Xum- 
berless things which had been stolen, but which had 
neither been demanded nor thought of, were sud- 
denly returned ; and even the thieves themselves, 
after this event, were sent back to Jamestown to 
receive punishment. The stubborn Powhatan was 
subdued by liis superstitious fears, and, with his 
people, by numerous presents, entreated peace here- 
after. The change was so complete, that the 
country became absolutely as free and safe to the 
English as to the savages themselves. Fortune 
thus admirably cooperated with the genius of our 
Captain to produce all the results to his colony 
which good government could possibly desire or 
procure. 



UFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 293 



CHAPTER XI. 

The exclusive control Tvhich Captain Smith now 
possessed over the affairs of the colony, was soon 
made manifest in its progress. The pacific temper 
to which he had brought the savages in a short space 
of time, left him wholly free to administer the in- 
ternal affairs of the settlement at his pleasure ; and 
the fact that he was no longer embarrassed by the 
vexing moods and querulous dispositions of his 
council, rendered his work comparatively easy and 
agreeable. Accordingly, we find the English mak- 
ing such progress in the useful arts, in the three 
months which followed the conclusion of peace with 
Powhatan, as they never exhibited in all their pre- 
vious history. Tar, pitch, and potash, in consider- 
able quantities, rewarded their exertions ; they pro- 
duced some samples of glass ; dug a well of excellent 
water in the fort, which, till then, had been very 
much wanting ; provided nets and seines for taking 
fish ; bailt twenty new houses ; repaired the church, 
and, the better to prevent thieving, and to check the 
incursions of the savages, laised a block-house on 
the isthmus of Jamestown, which neither Christian 
nor heathen was suffered to pass without order 
or permit from the President. Thirty or forty 
additional acres of land were also broken up and 
planted ; and such new care taken of pigs and poultry 
that their increase became marvelous. The former 
were carried to an islet, which was called Hog Island, 
and here a block-house was also built, and a garrison 
established, which should give notice of any ap- 



294 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

E reaching shipping. The soldiers here were not, 
owever, left to keep the place in idleness, but for 
their exercise and amusement were required to 
fell trees, and split clapboards. A fort was also 
begun, as a place of retreat — for they had no reason 
to suppose themselves free from the Spanish rovers 
— upon a commanding hill near a contiguous river. 
The plan of this fortress rendered it difficult of 
assault, and easy of defense ; but, before it was 
quite finished, a more pressing matter arrested the 
workmen. 

It was found that their corn, their entire stock, 
which had been put up in casks, and probably in a 
damp condition, was half rotten, and so much injured 
by the rats — of which reptile, a colony of several 
thousands had been transferred from the ships to the 
shore — that it was rendered almost wholly worth- 
less for the future use of the people. This pat a 
stop to all their labors and enterprises, those only 
excepted which went to supplying them with food*^; 
and this last necessity, as our President acknowl- 
edges, drove them to their wits' end." There was 
nothing to be procured in the countrj^, except that 
which came from the hands of nature. The Indian 
women of Yoiujhtanund and Mattajpanient^ ^yhen 
sharing with them their last supplies, did it with 
tears and lamentations, which forbade the idea of 
ravishing from the poor savages their little remain- 
ing store. The two Indians whom Smith had seized 
as hostages for the return of the chief of Paspahegh, 
and who \vere described as the " two most exact 
villaines in all the country," had refused to leave the 
settlement even when they recovered their enlai-ge- 
ment, but made themselves useful, and were found 
particularly valuable in teaching the whites how 
their fields were to be prepared and planted. These 
** exact villaines " exercised a proper influence over 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 295 

their people, who, in the distress of the colony, 
brought daily supplies of game — " squirrels, turkies, 
deere, and other wilde beasts." With common in- 
dustry and skill, starvation in such a country was 
impossible ; but it became necessary to scatter their 
forces, that they might more readily procure their 

fame. Accordingly, sixty or eighty, with Ensign 
laxson, were sent down the river to feed upon 
oysters ; twenty with Lieut. Percy, to Point Com- 
fort, to live by fishing ; " Master West, with as many 
more, went up the falls, but nothing could be found 
but a few acornes, of which every man had a fair 
proportion." The industry of some thirty or forty 
enabled them, even under these hard conditions, to 
live tolerably well, and with something of comfort. 
These had always before been the persons to supply 
the colony. They now^ contrived to supply them- 
selves. Sturgeon were in abundance, and these fish 
dried and pounded, and " mixed with caviare, sorrel, 
and other wholesome hearbes, would make good 
bread and meate;" while the Toghwogh and other 
roots would yield bread enough in a day to keep the 
gatherer a week. But the greater number of the 
colonists, who had hitherto found their food wholly 
in the toils of others, were not satisfied to adopt the 
habits of industry even at a period of such extreme 
necessity, and '' had they not been forced, nolens 
vole7is^ perforce to gather and prepare their victuall, 
they would all have starved or have eaten one 
another." It was the painful struggle with our 
Captain, from the first commencement of the settle- 
ment in Virginia, to protect the greater number of 
his followers from themselves. Their own blindness, 
and wickedness, and wilfulness; the perversity and 
malice in their hearts ; the profiigacy, at once, of 
moral and understanding with which \hey suffered, 
constituted the greater part of the toils*^and vexa- 



296 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

tions with which he had to contend from the com- 
mencement. And now, when, with ordinary pains- 
taking, it was so easy to gather good food and in 
abundance, these miserable wretches, with idleness, 
and gluttony, and a pernicious will, thoroughly in- 
graining their whole nature, preferred infinitely the 
sacrifice of all that had been done, and all that they 
possessed, rather than undergo the moderate amount 
of toil which the necessities of their condition re- 
quired. They preferred rather to sell their im- 
plements of culture, of work and defense, their hoes 
and kettles, their swords, guns and ordnance, in ex- 
change with the savages for the poor remains of 
corn they had in store. Powhatan, hearing of their 
emergency, had, with a rare and noble magnanimity, 
sent them half his stock ; yet were these profligate 
wretches on the eve of mutinying because Smith 
would not yield to their clamors, in endeavoring to 
wrest from him the residue. Failing in this object, 
their evil humors took another direction ; and find- 
ing that some of them seriously meditated the aban- 
donment of the colony, he seized upon the ringleader 
of the faction, one Dyer, " a crafty fellow, and his 
ancient raaligner," and having " worthily punished " 
him, made a talk to his comrades, in the following 
form and manner : — 

" Fellow-soldiers, I little thought there could be 
any among you so false to report, or so simple as to 
believe that I intended to starve you, or that Pow 
hatan, at this season, had any corn for himselfe, 
much less for you ; or that I would not procure it 
for you, if I knew where it were to be had. Neither 
did I think any of you so malicious as now I see a 
great man}^ Yet this shall not so provoke my 
passion, but that I will do my best for my worst 
maligner. But you must dream no longer of any 
help from Powhatan, nor that I will forbear to force 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 297 

you, if you are idle, and punish you when you 
wrangle. And if I finde any more runners for IS ew- 
foundland with the pinnace, let him assuredly look 
to arrive at the gallows. You cannot deny but that, 
by the hazard of m}'- life, many a time I have saved 
yours, when (might your owne wills have prevailed) 
you would have starved, and would do so still 
whether I will or noe. But I protest, by the God 
that made me, since necessitie hath not power to 
force you to rather for yourselves those fruites 
which the earth doth yield, you shall not onelj 
gather for yourselves, but for those also who are 
sicke. I have shared with the meanest of you in 
provision, and now my extra allowance shall be dis- 
tributed among the sicke. They, at least, shall not 
suffer. You shall help to provide for them. They 
shall partake of all our labors. As for this savage fare 
which your mouths so scornfully repine at, your 
storaaches can digest it. If you would have better 
you should have bought it. I will take a course 
which shall make you provide what is to be had. 
He, therefore, who gathereth not each day as much 
as I doe, shall be set the next beyond the river, and 
be banished from the fort as a droan till he mend his 
condition or starve." 

They murmured at his tyranny, but submitted, and 
thrived accordingly. They did not perish from the 
famine that was so much feared ; but the fishermen 
to his nets, the fowler to his weirs, the farmer to 
his fields, all prospered in obeying that imperative 
will, which saved them in spite of their own. 
Many were billeted among the Indians, and thus 
acquired their languages, their modes of life, their 
forest craft, and the medicinal and culinary virtues of 
their plants and roots, in the use of which the sav- 
ages have proverbially great success and skill. And 
they suffered no injury thus living among their rude 



298 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and wandering neighbors. Captain Smith was a 
name of so much })o\ver and terror among them, 
that " they durst not wrong us of a pin." So grate- 
ful did this sort of lite become to many of the 
whites, that they afterwards ran away'^to their 
forest friends when the necessity for leaving the 
fort had ceased to exist. But they were soon taught 
by the Indians that the power was supposed to re- 
side in Captain Smith rather than the race over 
which he ruled. The simple savages had long learned 
to distinguish betw^een his endowments and those of 
his companions ; and the treatment of the fugitives, 
who were always finally brought back by the In- 
dians, was in some cases full of admirable justice. 
The two savages, Kemps and Tussoree, the " two 
most exact vi Haines in all the country," made them- 
selves sport by subjecting the runaway whites to a 
treatment such as that which Smith had madetbem 
endure while in captivity : *' feeding them with this 
law " — a favorite maxim with our Captain — " that 
he who would not work must not eate," until they 
nearly starved the spiritless fugitives to death. 
Nor were they suffered to escape, but were kept 
closely watched, and under the u])lifted club, until 
opportunity was found for bringing them back to 
the settlements, with all that thev had stolen. 
Such had been the effect of our hero's training up- 
on these " poore salvages, of whom there was more 
hope to make better Christians and good subjects 
than the oiie halfeof those that counterfeited them- 
selves both." 

Among the first public labors which engaged the 
attention of our President when the emergencies of 
the colony in regard to food were fairly at an end, 
was one to recover possession of the Dutchmen 
who had been left with Powhatan, and another 
fugitive, named Bentley, who had found his way to 



LIFE O^ CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 299 

tbe same place of harborage. By this time the 
treachery of those reprobates was well known in 
the colony, and the desire of Smith to obtain posses- 
sion of their persons had its origin quite as much 
in the wish to lessen their influence upon the profli- 
gates at Jamestown, as with the view to their own 
punish ment. To effect this object, Smith despatched 
one William Yoklay, a Swiss, who undertook to 
procure their return to the colony. He was au- 
thorized to promise their pardon for past offenses, 
and good treatment hereafter. But Yolday himself 
was no sooner in the tents of Powhatan, than he 
followed tlie traitorous example of those whom he 
had been sent to recover. He had probably been 
one of their confederates before, but so secretly and 
adroitly had he played his game that none Jiad ever 
suspected him. His hypocrisy was of the most odious 
sort, since he obtained the confidence of Smith 
chiefly by his openly declared disapprobation and 
loathing of the Dutchmen — whom our author styles 
''his cursed countr3nnen." Yolday was a more 
daring, as well as a more subtle villain than the 
rest. ^He proposed to Powhatan and his associates 
to proceed m.ore vigorously in their objects, and 
offered to the former tliat, with his forces, he would 
untertake, while the English were thus scattered 
abroad over the face of the country for food, to cut 
them off, and bring into his service all those whom 
it was not absolutely necessary to destro3\ They 
were to fire Jamestov/n, seize the pinnace, slay the 
hogs, and effectually root out the settlement. 
Whether Powhatan entertained this plot, to be put 
in execution at a proper season, or not, Ave are not 
advised ; but the plan was revealed to Smith in suf- 
ficient time to guard against its dangers by two of 
his own people, Thomas Douse and Thomas Mallard, 
to whom, as to his confederates, Yolday had made it 



300 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

known. Eepenting of their connection with t-his 
traitor, they betrayed his secret, which Smitli caused 
them still to conceal, while they continued to in- 
trigue with the conspirator. His object was that 
the plot should ripen, "onely to bring the irreclaim- 
able Dutchmen, and the inconstant salvages, in 
such a manner, amongst such ambuscados as he had 
prepared, that not many of them should returne 
from our Peninsula." Hut the rumor got abroad 
among the people, who importuned the President 
to pursue and destroy the traitors. Lieutenant 
Percy and Mr. John Cuddrington, " two gentlemen 
of as bold and resolute spirits as could possibly be 
found," with many others, volunteered to go and 
cut the^throats of these wretches in the very presence 
of Powhatan. But Smith had other employments 
for these. He, nevertheless, gave way to the voice 
of the multitude, and suffered " Master AVyffin and 
Sergeant Jeffrey Abbot to goe and stab or shoot 
them." But this commission came to nothing. 
Powhatan signified to the messengers of deatn 
that the DutclHTien were at their disposal. He did 
not keep them ; nor would he offer to protect them. 
But when they listened to the representations of the 
criminals, the^^ began to differ in opinion as to the 
propriety of executing judgment upon them. Wyffin 
was for carrying out the purpose on which he ckme, 
but Abbot opposed it. The Dutchmen accused 
Volday, suspecting him of revealing the plot. He, 
meanwhile, seems to have eluded observation, and 
probably sought shelter in the forests, from whence 
he subsequently made his wav to England, where 
he imposed upon sundry merchants with a story of 
rich mines which he had discovered in Virginia. 
He was sent out by them with Lord Delaware ; but 
his impostures were soon detected, and he died 
paiserably and in deserved disgrace. Of the other 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 301 

Dutchmen, one remained with the Indians, while 
the other accepted the pardon which was tendered 
him by Smith, and returned to the colony. Sub- 
sequently, availing himself of a period of confusion 
in the settlement, he fled again to Powhatan, with 
Francis, one of his confederates, whose history has 
already been given, — and shared his fate \ — the 
brains of both of them being beaten out by the In- 
dians, as double traitors, whom no party could 
trust. 

Meanwhile, the return of the several parties, 
which, in obedience to instructions from England, 
had been sent out to ascertain the fate of the miss- 
ing colony of Sir Walter Raleigh, proved the mission 
to be fruitless. Mr. Sicklemore had explored the 
Chawwonoke, but found no traces and as few tradi- 
tions of the lost settlers ; and quite as little to re- 
ward his toils in the search after "silk-grass," or 
Pemminaw, as the Indians call it. The soil he found 
well timbered and exceedingly fertile. " Master 
Nathunael Powel and Anas Todkill^^ who had been 
sent under guidance of two of the people of Quiough- 
nohanocks, to explore the country of the Mangoags 
— a tribe not under the sway of Powhatan, but 
dwelling on the upper branches of the Nottowa}^ — 
were equally unfortunate. " Throe dayes journey 
they conducted them through the woods, into a high 
country towards the southwest; where they saw, 
here and there, a little cornefield, by some little 
spring or small brooke, but no river could they see." 
Except in language, they found the savages of this 
region in manners and appearance to resemble all 
they had yet seen. They lived upon the wild beasts 
and roots of the forest, wild fruits, and their slender 
crops, and carried on a trade with the people along 
the coasts, exchanging their peltry for fish and other 
oommodities. The Quioughnohanocks were a small 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

nation of Indians, who dwelt on the south side of 
James Elver, about ten miles above Jamestown. 
Their chief was always a fast friend to the English. 
Tliis " promise-keeping king, of all the rest, did ever 
best affect us ; and though to his false gods he w^as 
very zealous, yet he would confesse our God as much 
exceeded his as our guns did his bow and arrowes ; 
and often sent our President many presents to pray 
to his God for raino, that his corn might not perish 
— ^his own gods being angry." 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 303 



CHAPTEE XII. 

"While Captain Smith, by his address and energy, 
was thus retrieving the fortunes of the colony, and 
laying the solid foundations of a permanent empire, 
he received letters from England, which were very 
far from doing justice to his services. These were 
brought by Captain Argall, a gentleman then en- 
gaged in a contraband trade, but who afterwards be- 
came a governor in the country. They reproached 
our hero with the necessities of the colony, with his 
hard usage of the natives, and with the failure of the 
ships to return with freights. The accounts of his 
mode of dealing with the savages came from New- 
port, and others of his class and caliber. The stern 
decision of Smith, his knowledge of human nature, 
his skill in war, his stratagem and adventure, — all 
these, so far superior to the qualities possessed by 
his rivals — had inflamed them Avith an unappeasable 
hate and envy. To accuse him and to decry his 
merits and misrepresent his services, was, in fact, to 
furnish the most obvious mode of justification for 
their own failures and defeats. Smith, alone, had 
succeeded, — succeeded in establishing the colony ; — 
but this was not the sort of success which the pro- 
prietors at home desired. They had set out with 
false notions of the returns which should flow from 
their expenditure. The history of Spanish conquest, 
always sounding in the precious metals, was continu- 
ally present to their thoughts ; and their imagina- 
tions were too much disturbed by the gorgeous vision 
of uncounted treasure in the southern parts of Amer- 



804 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

ica, not to insist, equally in nature's and in reason's 
spite, that the northern regions of the New World 
should unfold spoils of equal value and abundance. 
To conquer a foothold among the furious savages of 
Apalachia, — to lay deeply and broadly the founda- 
tions of a great commercial empire — to maintain 
himself, in spite of faction and feeble resources, cold, 
and want, and sickness — with traitors within and 
unrelenting and unsleeping enemies without, — were 
not such services as could impress themselves upon 
a world which had been dazzled by the wondrous 

food fortune of Cortes in Mexico and Pizarro in 
'eru, or pacify the demands of those more imme- 
diately interested, who, having unwisely trusted 
their outlay in the hands of incompetent persons, 
and committed numerous blunders by their own mis- 
conception of their proper policy, were now disposed 
to wreak their indignation upon the only man who 
had shown himself really responsible. Smith was 
to be superseded. A new charter, bearing date the 
23d May, 1609, was obtained from the Crown, con- 
taining larger privileges and more ample powers 
than the former. The local Presidency and Council 
were to be abrogated, and the colonists were ex- 
pressly commanded to yield obedience to those only 
who should receive their appointment from the 
Council in England. Under this new system. Lord 
Delaware was made Captain-general of the colony ; 
— Sir Thomas Gates his Lieutenant ; Sir George 
Somers, Admiral ; Capt. Newport, Vice Admiral ; 
Sir Thomas Dale, High-marshal; Sir Ferdinando 
Wainman, General of the Horse ; and other officers 
were designated, and other appointments made, by 
which the infant colony of Virginia, which had made 
no returns, and which had barelv maintained itself 
in an uncertain existence through the vigilance and 
courage of one man, was to be lifted into an estab- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 305 

lishment of very imposing ^?^^^™^\. 7^^ ^^Y 
charter was granted to the Earls of Salisbury, but- 
folk, Southampton, Pembroke, and other Peers, to 
the number of twentv-one ; and to knio-hts and noble 
p-entlemen almost without number. The enterprise 
became fashionable. So many persons of power and 
fortune embarking in it, encouraged the more tiinid 
capitalists, and enabled the Captain-general and his 
associates to send off such an armament as never be- 
fore had floated in t-he waters of Virginia. Nine 
ships and five hundred people, were despatched, 
under the command of Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George 
Somers and Captain Newport. To each of these 
gentlemen, a commission was furnished, with which, 
the first who arrived, was to supersede that by which 
the colony was held. In this first proceeding, was 
planted theseedof difficulty and confusion Umvill- 
ino- that either should reach the promised land be- 
fore the other, the three Commissioners concluded 
to embark together in the same vessel They sailed 
from Eno'land, accordingly, in the latter part of 
Mav 1609, in a vessel called the Sea-Yenture, which 
was parted from the rest of the fleet in a hurricane, 
and wrecked upon the Bermudas. Their lives were 
saved, and, after a long delay and many hardships, 
thev finally reached Virginia; but not until Captain 
Smith had left it, to return to it no more. One 
other of the vessels in this expedition shared a worse 
fate— a small ketch, which foundered in the gale. 
The seven remaining ships reached their port in 
safety. Unadvised of their coming, Smith, at their 
approach, assuming them to be Spaniards, prepared 
fir them as enemies. Putting his men under arms, 
and his fort in a posture of defense, and strengthened 
by a large bodv of Indians, who, glad to conciliate 
our Captkin, came forward promptly with an offer 
of their services, he little feared the arrival of the 



306 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

supposed Spaniards, nor doubted that he should en- 
counter them successfully. But he was soon relieved 
of his apprehensions from this quarter, though it is 
very certain that an invasion of Spaniards would 
have proved less hurtful to the colony than those 
who came. Among these were some of whom we 
already possess some knowledge. These were Cap- 
tains Martin, Archer and Katcliffe, or Sickleraore, 
as we are told he should properly be called — " a 

Eoore counterfeited imposture," as Smith describes 
im in a letter to the Council, " whom I have sent 
vou home lest the company should cut his throat." 
It is a sufficient proof of the success with which his 
enemies worked against him in England, that there 
should have been sent out, on this expedition, and in 
some command, all the persons Avith whom he had 
been compelled to struggle, in maintnining success- 
fully the interests of the colony. These persons, 
unhappily, succeeded in impressing the new colonists 
generally with some share of their ill-feeling towards 
our Captain. They were, accordingly, prepared to 
dislike and distrust him before they had yet en- 
countered his person. It was easy to influence them 
in this manner. The greater number among them 
were profligate youth, whose friends were only too 
well satisfled to give them ample room in remote 
countries, where they might escape the worse des- 
tinies that threatened them at home. Poor gentle- 
men, bankrupt tradesmen, rakes and libertines, such 
as were more apt to ruin than to raise a common- 
wealth. A small sprinkling of better men among 
them, a few well-designing persons, of better sense 
and more experience, were soon disabused of the 
prejudices which the enemies of Smith had striven 
to inculcate. They had only to see his proceedings, 
and to hear the representations of his old soldiers, to 
arrive at just conclusions ; but the wholesome leaven 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 307 

was quite too small for such a lump, and the colony 
very soon presented a spectacle of most admired up- 
roar and confusion. 

Smith, hurt at the injustice of which he had been 
the victim, was disposed to fold his arms, as a quiet 
and indifferent spectator, while the newcomers ran 
riot in their abuse of order and authority. His pres- 
idency had not yet been superseded. The power 
to take his place had only been conferred upon those 
who had been wrecked upon the Bermudas, and his 
commission was still sovereign against all competi- 
tors. But, in his pique, he was not disposed to 
assert its virtues, nor were his enemies disposed to 
acknowledge them. He prepared to return to Eng- 
land, and suffered misrule, for some time, to play 
its fantastic tricks, without offering any obstruction 
to its progress. Led by Eatcliffe, Martin and 
Archer, this " lewd rout " passed from one mischiev- 
ous proceeding to another. They assumed the reins 
of government, and, on a small scale, were as wanton 
as'^the voung charioteer whom Phoebus, according 
to classic fable, entrusted with his steeds. At one 
moment they chose one governor, who was soon 
made to give place to another— to day they were for 
the old commission, to-morrow for the new, and the 
third day found them flinging away the restraining 
influences of all. " Happie," says one of our au- 
thorities, " had webeene had they never arrived, and 
we for ever abandoned ; for on earth, for the number, 
was never more confusion or misery than their fac- 
tions occasioned." "Wanton, indolent and feeble, they 
presented one of those mournful spectacles of im- 
potence and vanity in power, which the great poet 
assumes must make angels weep— a _ spectacle so 
ridiculous, as well as mournful, that it might well 
prompt their laughter also. The scorn of Smith 
seasoned his indignation. He looked on with pity 



308 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and contempt, until the evil grew too serious to 
suffer any longer such feelings to prevail. He was 
too little selfish in his nature — too much the patriot 
— to hold himself aloof when such dangers threatened 
the work of his hands, which had already cost him 
so much risk and labor. The sturdy followers of 
his past fortunes, most of whom had"^ learned prop- 
erly to estimate his worth and virtues, were true 
to the colonj^, and disposed to sustain him in the 
due maintenance of its interests. A part of the 
newly arrived were soon made to see that their hope 
lay in the energy and will which distinguished his 
command. Having waited for some time in the hope 
that the new commission would arrive, upon which 
he might devolve the legal responsibility, it became 
necessary for the public good that he should re-assert 
his own, and he did so with his wonted promptness 
and resolution. EatclifTe, Archer, and other fac- 
tious spirits, were laid by the heels after a long con- 
test, and the strong hand which had so successfully 
swayed the power oip this colony for its good, wielded 
it once more for its safety. This was not done 
without a struggle. " It would be too tedious, too 
strange, and almost incredible," says our authority, 
" should I particularly relate the'infinite dangers, 
plots and practises, he daily escaped among this 
factious crew ;" but the ringleaders once in prison 
and awaiting their trial, the restoration of order 
was comparatively easy. To lessen their power of 
mischief, and the tendency to it, Smith distributed 
them in sufficiently largo bodies for defense and 
settlement about the country. Mr. West, Avith a 
hundred and twenty chosen men, was sent to make 
a settlement at the Falls of James Kiver, and Cap- 
tain Martin, with as many more, to Nansemond. 
These were furnished with provisions according to 
their numbers ; and, with tools to work with, and 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 309 

weapons in their hands, had it in their power to 
found and to establish themselves in well-fortified 
and pleasant abodes. 

The disorders of the colony being quelled, and 
the machine of government and society once more 
working fairly on its wheels and hmges, Smith 
evinced the nobleness of his nature by giving up 
his authority. The year of his Presidency was 
nearly expired, and he yielded his seat to Captain 
Martin. But Martin had some saving grains of sense 
and honesty, and had hardly taken possession of the 
government before the oppressive weight of its re- 
sponsibility, with a conviction of his personal un- 
popularity, overcame his ambition, and he resigned 
it again into the hands of Smith, and hurried back 
to his establishment at l^ansemond. But his rule 
here was quite as unequal to the exigency as it 
would have been with the whole colony resting on 
his shoulders and wisdom. Though kindly treated 
by the Nansemond Indians, yet, in his anticipations 
of misctiief, or in his wantonness of power, he sur- 
prises their chief in the midst of his festivities, and 
takes possession of the island upon which he lived, 
with all his houses and treasure. Here he fortified 
himself, but so feebly, and so bad was the watch 
which he kept, that the savages took his fortress by 
assault, killed many of his men, rescued their king, 
and carried ofi' a thousand bushels of corn. Smith 
was at the Falls when intelligence reached him of 
this disaster, together with an entreaty from Martin 
for thirty soldiers. These were sent him, but he 
showed himself so little capable of using them, that 
they abandoned him in disgust, and made their way 
back to Jamestown, where they were soon followed 
by Martin himself, who left his people to take care 
of themselves. 

The establishment made by West at the Falls 



310 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

was scarcely more successful. Smith, making him 
a visit to examine the new settlement, was con- 
founded to find West on his way to Jamestown, 
already sick of his experiment. The survey which 
our Captain made of what had been done, proved 
the competence of the leader to be no greater than 
that of Martin. The settlement had been fixed on 
a site which had no single quality to recommend it. 
The spot was so low as to be liable to the inunda- 
tions of the river. It was also subject to other and 
equall}^ serious objections. Smith, as usual, com- 
pelled to take the business in hand, determined to 
abandon the place, and to seek another of more 
eligible qualities. To effect this, he negotiated 
with Powhatan for the district of country which 
went by that chieftain's name. Hither he proceeded 
to transfer the colony which had been assigned to 
West, but he was met by resistance and final vio- 
lence on the part of the infatuated wretches whom 
he strove to serve. Under the impression that the 
territory in which West had set them down was 
one abundant in the precious metal, they refused 
to abandon it; — refused, indeed, to suffer among 
them any addition to their numbers, even from 
among their own people, lest the individual share 
of spoil to each should be too greatly diminished. 
Besides, they were not disposed to yield much def- 
erence to the tenure by which Smith held the Pres- 
idency — looking momently to the arrival of those 
by whom his commission was to be superseded. 
Smith, at first, pitying their blindness and folly, en- 
deavored to convince them of the reasons b}^ which 
he was moved in his selection of a site for their 
establishment. But they treated his expostulations 
and authority with equal contempt. lie was not 
the man to submit coolly to such indignities, and, 
though attended by five men only, he proceeded to 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 311 

take certain of the most factious of their number 
into custody. But they did not suffer him to pro- 
ceed. Eeuiote from home, from the restraining 
and correcting influences of civilized life, and des- 

Eerate in their resolve to seize the gold ^vhich they 
elieved to be growing in the fertile earth around 
them, and to be had for the gathering, they arrnj^ed 
themselves in force against the audacious individual, 
whom they had been taught to hate and to distrust 
from the beginning, by whom they were to be torn 
from their Dorado. Five men against one hundred 
and twenty, suggested a greater inequality of force 
than it was within the courage even of a spirit so 
fearless as that of Smith to encounter. He retreated 
to his boat, accordingly, and with that readiness of 
resource which seemed never to desert him, he 
chan<>'ed his plan of attack by arms, for one which 
promised less speril and greater success. He sur- 
prised the vessel which contained all their stores 
and provisions, and, after a delay of several daj's, in 
which he strove to afford the mutineers time and 
counsel for return to their obedience, he set sail for 
Jamestown, leaving these besotted wretches to their 
deserts. 

They did not long elude their proper punishment. 
"With the same wild and reckless spirit with which 
they had met the attempts of Smith to bring them 
to order, and put them in safety, they behaved to 
the simple savages in whose vicinity they had settled 
themselves. These they robbed and maltreated, 
dispossessed them of their food and stores, despoiled 
and drove them from their dwellings, and, when 
they complained, took them into custody. The 
Indians, as soon as they perceived the hostile atti- 
tude which they took with regard to Smith, whom 
they had learned equally to venerate and fear, 
volunteered in numbers to fight bis battles. They 



312 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. » 

com plained to bim, with justice, that he had brought 
among them, on the plea of protecting them, a far 
worse enemy than they had ever before had reason 
to fear ; and urged that, since they could not look 
to him for protection, ho must not be surprised or 
offended if they struggle to protect themselves. 
Smith, of course,*^ refused them aid, and exhorted them 
to forbearance. He counseled the refractory whites 
of their danger from this source ; but had the fortune, 
like Cassandra, to have his predictions laughed at. 
The mutineers soon paid the penalty of unbelief. 
The departure of Smith was the signal for the rising 
of the savages. Hq had scarcely set sail when a 
simultaneous attack was made upon the fort, and 
such of the whites as were straggling in the woods. 
Many were slain, and the rest so frightened, that it 
was no longer a difficult matter for Smith to obtain 
a hearing. His vessel having grounded in the river, 
within reach of the terrified fugitives, they appealed 
to him for protection, and at once submitted them- 
selves to his mercy. For once, our Captain found 
the Indians to be excellent auxiliaries. Taking 
advantage of their fears, he selected six or seven of 
the ringleaders for punishment, and having laid them 
by the heels, conducted the rest of them to the pro- 
posed settlement of Powhatan ; where he took pos- 
session of the fortress, " readie built and prettily 
fortified with poles and barkes of trees," as it had 
been raised by that sturdy emperor. The work is 
described as sufficient to have protected them against 
all the savages in Virginia ; and there were lodging 
houses ready for use, and more than two hundred 
acres of land in planting condition. Of so much 
strength and beauty was the site thus secured to 
these undeserving runagates, that Smith preferred 
it to all others he had seen in the country. Accord- 
ingly, he called it JSTonmch. He had subdued his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 313 

malcontents for a season ; seated them in abodes of 
pleasantness ; and, reconciling them to the Indians, 
left them to the enjoyment of a peace and security 
which their merits had scarcely obtained of them- 
selves. Captain West, making his appearance, now 
that all the troubles of the settlement had been com- 
posed, had nearly again revived them by the mis- 
taken efforts which he made for the release of the 
mutineers who had been selected for an example. 
He succeeded in prevailing with Smith — Who was 
now completely sickened with the toil of serving 
men equally against their destiny and will — to give 
them up. This was done, and our Captain departed 
for Jamestown. But J^cmsuch^ however desirable 
and beautiful, could not long content these unhappy 
people ; who, possessed with the dream of finding 
gold in the country of the Monacans, as soon as they 
had recovered from the fright which the savages 
had given them, once more abandoned their settle- 
ment and made their way back to that from which 
they had been expelled. We need not pursue their 
history. From this moment the connection ceases 
between them and our adventurer. 



314 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

Our Captain begins to show a certain degree of 
weariness and exhaustion, in the protracted struggle 
which he has been compelled to maintain, as well 
against, as in behalf of, the oddly assorted com- 
munity confided to his charge. The elastic spirit of 
youth with which he rather rejoiced in difficulties, 
even as the brave swimmer prefers to struggle 
against the billowy currents, than float without 
effort on the slumberous lake, no longer buoys him 
up against all opposition ; and the sense of service 
treated with injustice, and of true and substantial 
merits denied their due acknowledgment, reconciles 
him to those irregularities, and that wilful disposi- 
tion to err and suffer, on the part of the settlers, 
which he has hitherto encountered with the firm 
and decisive rule of the patriarch. When, there- 
fore, the people under West " returned againe to 
the open ayre at West's fort, abandoning Nonsuch " 
— that delightful, secure, and sheltered spot, which 
he had been at such trouble to procure for them 
from Powhatan — he makes no further o])position, 
and sees thein hurrying anew to " the height of 
their former factions," with an indifference which 
betrays the exhaustion of his patience, ratlier than 
any want of sympathy in the interests of the colony. 
The proprietors of the establishment seem to have 
kept pace with the colonists, in weaning him from 
those attachments to the region and to the enter- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 315 

prise, which naturally grew out of his connection 
with them ; and it needed but a very small imme- 
diately impelling motive to cause hira to abandon 
Virginia, as he had just abandoned to their fortunes, 
the unstable and obstinate people under West. 
That impelling circumstance was now at hand. 
Passing down the river, on his way from Nonsuch 
to Jamestown, an event occurred which nearly de- 
prived him of life. While he slept, his powder-bag 
was accidentally fired by one of the crew, and the 
powder exploding, tore and lacerated his body in a 
most shocking manner. Roused by the sudden tor- 
ture from his sleep, he leapt instantly into the river, 
from wliich he was extricated with the greatest 
difficulty, and not before he was almost drowned. 
In this condition, without the means of comfort or 
surgical assistance, he had yet nearly a hundred 
miles to travel in an open' boat before he could 
arrive at either. Suffering thus dreadfully, he was 
not permitted to forget the cares of his public trust, 
in his physical disquiets, but found it necessary, on 
reaching Jamestow^n, to address his energies'^ and 
thoughts much more to the troubles of those around 
him, than to any oF his own. There he found every- 
thing in disorder from the activity of Eatcliffe, 
Archer, and the other malcontents "^ whom he had 
arrested for their mutinies. The time for their trial 
was approaching, and their guilty consciences coun- 
seled them rather to anticipate that period by new 
commotions, than quietly await its issues. Accord- 
ingly, these creatures were busy, and so active and 
audacious that Captain Smith was compelled, on his 
return, maimed and mangled ns he was, to put the 
settlement in such trim as ^vould enable it to meet 
the exigencies of a sudden assault. AVhile thus 
making his preparations, and particularly striving 
to increase the store of provisions for the garrison, 



316 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

his miserable condition of body — "unable to stand, 
and neere bereft of his senses by reason of his tor- 
ment " — they conceived a more prompt and happy 
expedient for escaping trial. Ilis feebleness inspired 
their courage, and emboldened them to try an ex- 
periment, which, in his armor, erect, an d*^ " ready 
with his conclusions," their cowardly spirits would 
never for a moment have entertained. They laid 
their plans to assassinate him in his bed. But tho 
heart of the base creature Avho had been chosen to 
do the deed, failed him at the proper moment. He 
dared not " give fire to that mercilesse pistoll." We 
are not told whether the waking eye of Smith en- 
countered the assassin, but, if it did, he was prob- 
ably quelled and paralyzed, as was the savage 
Oimbrian who had been sent by the magistracy of 
Minturnee to butcher Caius Marius. Tho voice, the 
eye, and probably the bare aspect of a man whom 
even the worst enemies of Smith in Virginia had 
been wont to fear, must have done, for his safety, 
that which his own skill and strength could no 
longer have achieved in this moment of his impotence. 
The murderer shrunk from the duty assigned him, 
and other modes became necessary by which the 
confederate malignants should still elude the justice 
which they feared. To usurp the government 
seemed the only process. Smith was advised of 
their plans in time to baffle them; and, at this 
period, his old soldiers gave him a new proof of their 
loyalty and attachment. Gathering around his bed, 
they importuned him to sufi'er them at once to take 
off the heads of the conspirators, and thus, at a single 
stroke, take away those branches, which had been 
so fruitful of disease and hurt to the growth of the 
colony. But Smith, with great magnanimity, re- 
fused to avail himself of this short and summary 
method of revenge. He was sick of the struggle, 



LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. S11 

and saw no reason to persevere in a conflict for 
which, whether right or wrong, whether he failed 
or triumphed, he Avas still likely to suffer blame. 
His hurts of body contributed also in great degree 
to lessen those nervous energies which might have 
made his mind eager to redress itself — to punish 
his enemies, and to overcome all the difficulties 
which they might raise upon his path. But why 
should he still continue to build for others ? Why 
build for those who, coming after him, might only 
cast down his fabrics? Ilis labors for several years 
— the arduous conflict which he had maintained for 
the establishment of the colony — the firm basis upon 
which he had founded the little community from 
Europe, in spite of all savage opposition, in the forests 
of America — all that he had done with what recom- 
pense, and with what toil, and peril, and annoyance 
— was about to pass to strangers ! What motive for 
farther exertion, with a frame writhing in agony, 
with a spirit vexed and wearied by disappointment '? 
His resolves were more pacific and more honorable 
than his old soldiers v/ould have had them. Con- 
tenting himself with takmg order for the safety of 
the colony, by placing the government in the hands 
of Mr. Percy, he sailed in the autumn of 1609 from 
Virginia, which he was never again to behold. 

Of his services in founding the English colony, 
the history of which has so far been his own, we 
have endeavored to afford an account as livelv and 
correct as possible. We cannot doubt that it sur- 
vived only through his wisdom, his courage, and his 
great enterprise. He was the master spirit of his 
little empire ; for one year its president ; and, during 
the whole term of his stay in the counti'v — some- 
thing more than two years — its chief support and 
security. To those accustomed to measure events 
by their magnitude alone, the petty details which 



318 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

characterize an infant settlement such as we have 
described — the small cares of providing food for 
wandering men, and contending for their lives 
against bands of naked savages — it will seem some- 
thing of an extravagance, not to say absurdity, to 
claim for him, whose life is consumed in such per- 
formances, the merits of great heroism. But we 
are free to express our conviction, that the success- 
ful conflict with the minor necessities of life, in 
strange situations, against active hostility from with- 
out, and an antipathy within quite as active, though 
less overt, and with such inadequate resources as 
were in the possession of our Captain, require re- 
sources of thought, will, courage, energy, and mag- 
nanimity, quite as great as are usually exercised by 
the victorious chieftain ; the vastness of whose per- 
formance, alone, rather than its value, and the ob- 
stacles which have opposed it, constitutes his whole 
claim to renown and eminence. Smith, in the em- 
ployment of a company who had but a vague idea 
of their own objects, and an imperfect notion of the 
sort of adventure upon which he went, was continu- 
ally under the check and rebuke of a power which 
could neither direct his labors nor appreciate his 
performances. They could find no merit in obtain- 
ing a foothold in a foreign and hostile region, from 
which their extravagant fancies anticipated nothing 
less than treasure. The vast utility of what he suc- 
ceeded in doing, in founding his colony, in spite of 
inadequate numbers, deficient materials, starvation, 
sickness, and mutiny, was not to be felt or under- 
stood, where such insane fancies prevailed in the 
face of all sober reason and reflection. That he 
should not have satisfied his employers who sat in 
silken security at home, is by no means matter of 
surprise. That he should not have ])lease(l the 
effeminate and the profligate with whose preserva- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 319 

tion he was burdened, and whom he made to toil in 
unwonted labors, when it was their passion to live 
woolly on the toils and risks of others, is quite as 
little within the range of expectation ; and that his 
career should have proved grateful to the savage 
tribes whom he overcame— whom he alone could 
overcome— whom he subdued to peace— whom he 
made tributary to his necessities— and upon whose 
territories he fixed a foot so fast that no improvi- 
dence in his successors, ho^Yever extreme, could en- 
able them to fling it off— was not within the bounds 
of reason and belief. And yet, in the respect of all 
these, he secured such a place, that we find the 
savages volunteering their arms to strengthen his 
power against the profligate and refractory of his 
own people;— we find the veterans whom he had 
trained to successes by his strict and undiscriminat- 
ino- justice, forgetting*^ all their prejudices, and prof- 
fering to bring him the heads of his enemies ;— and 
in regard to his general merits in the establishment 
of the colonv, we discover that, surviving all the 
misrepresentations of that scurvy pack, the Archers, 
the Newports, and the Eatcliffes, the world of Eng- 
land, very soon after he left Virginia, justly accorded 
him the' credit of being its true founder and sole 
parent. Time, that great avenger, has ratified the 
awards of justice, and posterity confirms the decision 
which even contemporaneous history was disposed 
to make in the case of our hero. But, unless our 
narrative has satisfied the reader of his great and 
superior merits, anv summarv at this stage in our 
progress will uttedy fail to supply the deficiency. 
It will be enough here to furnish that which we 
have at the hands of certain of his follo\yers in 
Viro-inia One of the authorities from which we 
derive our materials, thus rudely but forcibly accu- 
mulates, in one paragraph, and characterizes his per- 



320 LI^E OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

formances. " By this you may see for all those 
crosses, trecheries, and dissentions, how he %vrestled 
and overcame (without bloodshed) all that happened ; 
also what good was done ; how few dyed ; what 
food the country naturally affordeth ; what small 
cause there is men should starve, or bemurthered by 
the salvages, that have discretion to manage them, 
with courage and Industrie. The two first yeares, 
though by his adventures, he had oft brought the 
salvages to a tractable trade, yet you see how the 
envious authoritie ever crossed him, and frustrated 
his best endeavors. But it wrought in him that ex- 
perience and estimation amongst the salvages as 
otherwise it had bin impossible he had ever effected 
Avhat he did. JS^otwithstanding the many miserable, 
yet generous and Avorth}^ adventures he had oft and 
long endured in the wide world, yet, in this case, 
he w^as againe to learne his lecture by experience. 
Which, wuth thus much adoe havino; obtained, it 
was his ill chance to end, when he nad but onely 
learned how to begin." 

This is well and honestly stated. The writer pro- 
ceeds to hint what was the contrast between his 
successes and those of the persons by whom he was 
succeeded. '' And though he left those unknowne 
difficulties made easy and familiar to his unlawful 
successors (who onely by living in Jamestowne pre- 
sumed to know" more than all the world could direct 
them) now, — though they had all his souldiers, with 
a tripple power, and twice tripple better meanes, — 
by what they have done in his absence, the world 
may see what they would have done in his presence 
had he not prevented their indiscretions : it doth 
justly prove what cause he had to send them for 
England, and that ho was neither factious, mutinous, 
nor dishonest. But they have made it more plaine 
since his return for England, having his absolute 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 331 

authoritie freely in their power, with all the advan- 
tages and opportunity that his labours had effected." 

It does not belong to our ])resent labors to con- 
tinue the history of events in Virginia after the de- 
parture of our hero, yet, in confirmation of the pre- 
ceding extract, and to show by relative results what 
were his real claims upon the admiration of those 
who appreciated the deeds of a proper manhood, it 
may be well to mention that his departure from the 
colony was followed by misery and disaster. The 
seditious portion of the population got the ascen- 
dency ; Martin and West abandoned their separate 
settlements with the loss of half their men ; the 
Indians, as soon as they were sure of the absence of 
that commanding genius which had always held 
them in such complete subjection, revolted and mur- 
dered all whom they met. Instead of one, the 
colonists had twenty Presidents, each with his bullies 
and retainers ; the provisions which Smith had 
gathered with so much care were soon wasted, and 
West and Katcliffe, going forth to trade for supplies 
with the Indians, the former fled to England, and 
the latter, set upon by the savages was slain with 
thirty of his soldiers: but one boy of the number 
escaped, preserved by the mercifid'^ interposition of 
Pocahontas. It was not long before the worst 
enemies and m.aligners of Smith, subdued by suffer- 
ing and danger to a proper sense of their equal 
feebleness and undesert, deplored his absence, and, 
in the bitterness of their hearts, cursed their des- 
tinies by which that event had been precipitated. 

Such was the distress and suffering of the colonists, 
from famine and the unremitting hostility of the 
savages, tliat, of five hundred persons whom Smith 
left behind him in the colony, there remained living, 
at the end of six months, scarcely more than sixty 
— men, women, and children — and these preserved 

21 



822 J-IFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

a wretched existence by living upon roots and herbs, 
acorns and wild nuts, and berries of the wood. 
From the Indians they got little else than scoffs 
and wounds. They traded away their swords and 
firelocks for food, and thus fell easier victims to their 
foes. Famine, in its most horrid forms, assailed 
them. The very skins of their horses were devoured. 
A portion among them disinterred an Indian, who 
had been slain and buried, and, having eaten him, 
followed up the horrid taste for human food, by 
preying upon one another. One miserable wretch 
slew his own wife, and had devoured a portion of 
the carcass before he was detected. Bat we gladly 
turn from a spectacle so wretched, which nothing 
but the rare conduct, ability and courage of our 
hero had kept from being seen in the colony before. 
The day of retribution was not long deferred after 
his departure, and no more triumphant attestation 
of his wonderful merits, for such a service, could be 
found, than in the contrast between the history of 
Virginia during his administration, and that of the 
first six months by which it was succeeded. We 
must now follow him to England. 



UFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



BOOK FOURTH. 



CHAPTEE I. 

Of " our Captaine," returned to his native land, 
we bear little or nothing for several years. A 
period of physical repose seems to have "^ been nec- 
cessary to his career after so long a conflict with 
danger and privation. It is probable that he suf- 
fered for some time after reaching England from his 
injuries by gunpowder ; for, just before leaving 
Virginia, we are told, " so grievous were his wounds, 
and so cruel his torments, that few expected he 
could live." He did live, but his cure was probably 
a tedious one ; and habits of reading and studv, in- 
duced by the confinement of his chamber, in all 
probability opened new resources to his mind, par- 
ticularly at a period of great physical exhaustion. 
It is likely that he conceived, while in this situa- 
tion, those plans of study and followed out those 
inquiries in history, which led him subsequently to 
become a somewhat voluminous writer. In i612 
he published his "map of Virginia, w^ith a descrip- 
tion of the countrey, the commodities, people, gov- 
ernment and religion." To this w^ork was annexed 
the history published under the name of William 
Simmons, ' " Doctour of Divinitie ; " to wdiich the 
biogra])hers of Smith have been so largely indebted. 
And we have no doubt that, during the interval be- 



324: LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SmTH. 

tween his departure from Virginia, his vo3^ages to, 
and discovery in New England, about five years, he 
employed no small portion of his time in a course of 
study,' of which his youth had been neglectful — 
supplying those deficiencies of his early education, 
which he might ascribe as much to his own erratic 
temper as to the indifference and selfishness of his 
guardians. Smith, indeed, became something of a 
Fiterary man. He held the pen quite as vigorously 
as he did the sword ; used it with a flourish ; and, if 
frequently rude and incoherent in his style, he 
sometimes made ample amends for his short-com- 
ings by snatching " a grace beyond the reach of art." 
lie was bold in the use of figures ; and, where he 
wrote from his own experience, and without affec- 
tations, he was sometimes uncommonly spirited, and 
even eloquent. His associates seem to have been 
men of letters. Some of his followers in Virginia 
were verse makers like himself. The custom of that 
time was to hail the appearance of the successful 
author with ode and sonnet, insisting upon his 
merits and peculiar claims upon the muse. It was 
a custom that had its beneficial uses, though liable 
to some objections. His volumes are introduced to 
the public by epistles from his admirers. K. Brath- 
wait tells him : 

*' Two greatest shires of England did thee beare, 
Renowned Yorkshire, Gaunt-stild Lancashire : '* 

reminds him of his conquests over the affections of 
Tragabigzanda, the Lady Callamata, Pocahontas, 
etc., all of whom did for him 

*' What love with modesty could doe ; " 

and concludes, punning upon his name, with the 
wish that we had 

** Many such Smiths in this our Israel** 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 326 

Anthony Fereby writes in better, and bolder, and 
truer verses : — 

♦' Thou hast a course most full of honour runne : 
Envy may snarle as dogges against the sunne, 
Mav bark, not bite ; for what desei-vedly 
With thy life's danger, valour, policy, 
Quaint, warlike stratagems, ability 
And judgment thou hast got, fame sets so high 
Detraction cannot reach : thy worth shall stand 
A patterne to succeeding ages, and 
Clothed in thine own lines ever shall add grace 
Unto thy native country and thy race." 

Edward Jordan writes in a long strain, of which 
these lines will serve our purpose : 

" I know none 
That like thyself hast come, and gone, and runne, 
To such praiseworthy actions." 

Eichard James, after enumerating the martial 
virtues of his subject, thus insists upon his literary 
as well as military merits : 

*♦ Whose sword and pen in bold, ruffe, martial- wise, 
Put forth to try and beare away the prize 
From Caesar and Blaize MoiUuc." 

M. Hawkins notices yet other qualities which the 
lover of military glory does not often insist upon— 

" None can truly say thou didst deceive ^ 
Thy soldiers, sailors, merchants or thy friends. 
But all from thee a true account receive." 

He adds— and thus furnishes the proof of what 

he asserts, 

** Yet naught to thee all these thy virtues brmg." 

Kichard Meade gives him that credit of 
" Founding a common weale 
In faire America," 
the proofs of which are, we humbly think, conclu- 
sively embodied in this volume ; and so we are fur- 
nished with the testimonies of Edward Ingham, M. 



326 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Gartner, Brian O'Rourke, S. Tanner and others, all 
of which prove the esteem if not the poetical en- 
dowments of his contemporaries. Some of his fol- 
lowers in Virginia are among these tribute-bringers. 
J. Coddington signs himself **your sometime 
souldier, now templar." Raleigh Crashaw writes, 
" in the deserved honour of my honest and worthy 
Captain, John Smith and his work." He says, among 
other things, 

" With due descretion and undaunted heart, 
I oft so well have seene thee act thy part 
In deepest plunge of hard extremitie, 
As forct the troops of proudest foes to flee, 
Though men of greater rank and less desert, 
"Would pis/i- away thy praise — it cannot start 
From the true owner." 

"Michael Phettiplace, Will Phettiplace and Rich- 
ard WyfRn, gentlemen and souldiers under Captain 
Smith's command," give similar evidence, but in 
greater detail : 

" Thou heldst the King of Paspahegh enchained, 
Thou all alone this salvage sterne didst take. 
Paraaunkee s king wee saw tJiee captive make 
Among seven hundred of his stoutest men, 
To murder thee and us resolved, when 
Fast by the haire thou ledi-t this salvage grim, 
Thy pistoU at his breast," etc. 

Of Smith's own lines the specimens are few, and 
they do not impress us with the poetry of his verse, 
though his prose writings are full of evidence that 
he possessed a warm and lively fanc3^ There is, 
at the opening of his work about New England, a 
copy of verses entitled the " Sea-marke," which ap- 
pear as coming from his pen. They possess con- 
siderable merit, and are decidedly better than many 
other samples of this order which have been pre- 
served to us. They remind us of such writers as 
John Davies and Philip Quarles, and have that 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 327 

peculiar quaintness of tone which marked the verses 
of the Elizabethan period. It is but fair that we 
give them to the reader in this connection. They 
are better lines than those of his eulogists. 



THE SEA-MARKE. 

Aloofe, aloofe, and come no neare, 

The dangers doe appeare, 

Which, if my mine had not beene, 

You had not seene : 

I only lie upon this shelfe 

To be a marke to all 

Which on the same may fall, 
That none may perish Vmt myself. 

If in or outward you be bound 

Do not forget to sound ; 

Neglect of that was caused of this 

To steere amisse. 

The seas were calm, the winde was faire, ' 

That made me so secure, 

That now I must endure 
All weathers, be they foule or faire. 

The winter's cold, the summer's heat© 

Alternatively beat 

Upon my bruised sides, that rue. 

Because too true, 

That no reliefe can ever come ; 

But why should I despaire 

Being promised so faire, 
That there shall be a day of Dome. 

The moral counsel in these verses is not confined 
to the seaman. The caution was such as Smith 
practised whether on land or sea. He had, in rare 
proportion, that " due discretion " for which his 
aihnirer gives him praise, along with the merit of 
" great valiantnesse." Certainly, never was the 
courage of the soldier more happily coupled with 
the calm over-ruling judgment of the Captain than 
in the case of Smith. 



328 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Such, then, for five years after he left Yirginia 
seem to have been the exercises — we must not call 
them amusements — in which our adventurer in- 
dulged. But though he read in books, and mixed 
with literary men, his studies had but one direction. 
The books which he grappled were those of adven- 
ture and discovery. The books he wrote were of 
war, travel, and colonization ; how countries were 
to be explored and settled ; and how men were to 
be trained for such objects and employments. He 
was not forgetful of Yirginia. His heart was still 
fondly set upon the fortunes of that colony. After 
alleging, in the opening of his treatise entitled 
*'The Pathway to Experience to erect a Planta- 
tion," that " all our plantations have been so foyled 
and abused, their best good willes have been for the 
most part discouraged and disgraced ; " — he adds, 
" but pardon me if I offend in loving that I have 
cherished truly, by the losse of my prime, fortunes, 
meanes and youth." This is a melancholy senti- 
ment, which is but too frequently heard to fall from 
the lips of those who fall the victims to their own 
enthusiasm, in the service of the selfish. His youth 
— speaking comparatively — gone, his means ex- 
hausted, his successes questioned, and the prospect 
of future employment small, the forward glance of 
Smith must have shown him but a gloomy and 
cheerless pathway. He might well look baclc upon 
the history of past struggles in Yirginia with mixed 
feelings of fondness and mortification. He had 
been successful there ; he had done what no other 
person could have done ; and of this neither malice 
nor envy could despoil his name. His successors 
were offering daily proof to the nation which tended 
to the elevation of Smith's abilities and virtues. 
We have already afforded a glimpse of the ruin and 
disaster by which his departure had been distin- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 329 

guished. The continued history of the settlement 
while he lay unemployed in England, conclusively 
showed how entirely the colony had been indebted 
to the one man for its preservation in past years. 
To this history we must return during the period 
of Smith's sojourn in England ; not so much with a 
view to its details, as with regard to the fortunes 
of certain individuals in whom our sympathies have 
been awakened by the previous narrative. The 
name of Pocahontas is too nearly associated with 
that of Smith to suffer us to lose her from our sight ; 
nor can we part abruptly with the grim chief, her 
shrewd and politic old father. These, with the re- 
markable savage, Opechancanough, will demand 
iust enough of our attention to give a dramatic 
mterest to our biograph3\ 

A continual change of governors followed the 
departure of Smith, and indicated quite as much as 
anything else the evil administration of the colony. 
Percy succeeded Smith ; was succeeded by Sir 
Thomas Gates ; he by Lord Delaware ; Delaware 
by Percy again ; Percy by Sir Thomas Dale ; Dale 
by Gates again; Gates by Dale once more; and 
Dale by Mr. "George Yeardly ; and all these changes 
were made in the short space of six years. In this 
brief period the colonists were deeply and irretriev- 
ably embroiled with the Indians, whom they soon 
began to massacre, and whose villages they devoted 
to the flames. They were followed by flames and 
massacre in turn. The Indians, driven to furv, took 
courage against their tyrants ; and what with their 
hostility, and the idleness and mutinous dispositions 
of the colonists, the latter Avere soon in danger of 
famine. They were saved only by supplies from 
England. Kew towns were established, and old 
ones taken from the savages. The temper of Pow- 
hatan was not improved by these events. The 



330 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

sympathy which Pocahontas expressed for the pale- 
faces had estranged from her the affections of the 
vindictive old man. She lived with him no longer, 
but found lier abode in some secresy with her rela- 
tions, the King and Queen of Potomack. She was 
no longer able to influence her father's mind in be- 
half of the English captives, and she fled from ex- 
hibitions of cruelty which her entreaties failed to 
arrest. She thought herself safe in the keeping of 
her relatives. She was yet to find herself painfully 
deceived. The English, under Capt. Argall, ob- 
tained intelligence of her hiding place, and the 
cupidity of Japazaws and his wife, with whom she 
found shelter, was excited by the bribes of Argall. 
They were prevailed upon to bring her on board 
the ships of the English. Pocahontas had already 
seen the great canoes, but the wife of Japazaws had 
been less fortunate. Her curiosity became a passion 
Avhich must be gratified, and Pocahontas yielded 
to her entreaties. Why should she fear evil at the 
hands of the English ? She, who had so frequently 
interposed to save them — who was even then under 
the frown of her father, because of her unnatural 
love for his enemies ! Certainly, unless by assum- 
ing for them a character of the utmost ingratitude, 
she had no reason to apprehend treachery from them. 
Her confidence w^as misplaced. Once in the vessel 
of Argall, she was decoyed into the gun-room, and 
there informed that she was a prisoner. Her prayers 
availed her nothing. Her tears were wasted upon 
the selfish nature of the English captain. Old 
Japazaw^s and his treacherous wife Avere loud in their 
bowlings and entreaties, the better to persuade the 
unhappy girl of their innocence, but they were quite 
satisfied when they were put ashore with their cop- 
per-kettle, which fiad been the price of their miser- 
able treachery. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 331 

The lesson which Argall thus put in practise was 
taken out of Spanish books. Failing to compass the 
capture of the king, his daughter was a prize that 
promised a goodly ransom. She was the favorite 
of her sire — had been the nonpareil in the days of 
Captain Smith's administration. It was assumed 
that Powhatan would pay with liberal hands that 
she might be restored to his eyes. A messeno^er 
was despatched to him. He was told that Ms 
daughter could only be ransomed by a prompt 
restoration, to the English, of all the men, the guns, 
tools and weapons, which he had obtained by theft, 
purchase or conquest from the English. " From 
Smith, Powhatan never succeeded in procuring 
arms. But the factious and lazy colonists, after his 
departure, in the loose rule which followed, pro- 
cured their corn and tobacco from the savages by 
giving them their swords and matchlocks. Smith 
says sarcastically, "And the loving salvages, their 
kinde friends, they trained so well up to shoot in a 
piece, to hunt and kill their fowle, they became more 
expert than our own countrymen." 

It was necessary to recover the weapons so im- 
providently entrusted to their hands, and hence tlie 
conditions for the ransom of Pocahontas. They 
were too stringent for the ambitious nature of 
Powhatan, though the news of his daughter's cap- 
ture troubled him much beyond all ordinary cause 
of grief. He made an effort to obtain her release. 
He sent back seven English prisoners, with each an 
unserviceable masket. He promised them, upon the 
release of his daughter, to make them satisfaction 
for all injuries, to enter with them into a treaty of 
peace, and to give them five hundred bushels of 
corn. But this did not satisfy her captors. They 
demanded that he should return everything, give 
up his whole treasure of English arms, upon which 



332 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

he bad set Lis heart from the first moment of his 
knowledge of their use. The love of the father was 
not equal to the ambition of the king. He indig- 
nantly refused any answer to the demand, and for 
some time they beard nothing from him. They car- 
ried her up to Werowocomooc under a strong guard 
of one hundred and fifty men, apprised him that 
they came to restore her to his arms, but repeated 
the original tei'ms of her ransom. He refused to 
see tbem, and answered their propositions only with 
scorn and defiance. Some skirmishes ensued, in 
which the Indians suffered some injury and had 
their houses burnt, but the stern old emperor was 
implacable. The brothers of Pocahontas were per- 
mitted to visit her on board of the English vessel, 
but the concession led to nothing. The whites 
were compelled to return to Jamestown, leaving 
the savages more embittered than ever against 
them. 

But a new agent was busy in bringing about a 
pacification, upon which neither the English nor the 
Indians had made any calculation. This was love. 
Pocahontas was now^ about eighteen years of age. 
She had, from her earliest kno^^-fedge of the English, 
been impressed with their superiority. She had 
loved them as a race beyond her own, and had 
given her entire veneration to their sagacious leader. 
A tenderer sentiment consoled her in her captivity. 
Her affections were won b}^ John Rolfe, an English- 
man of good family and worth. His addresses were 
sanctioned by Sir thomas Dale, the then Governor 
of Virginia, and finally received the sanction of 
Pow^hatan. But he would not risk his person to be 
present at the marriage. He sent one of her uncles, 
Opachisco, and two of his sons, to witness the cere- 
monies, which were solemnized in the spring of 1613. 
This event softened the asperities between the op* 







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LIFE OP CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 833 

posing races. It subdued the hate, if it did not se- 
cure the love of Powhatan for the stranger people, 
and a treaty of peace, followed by a resumption of 
all friendly relations, was the result of an event 
which all parties considered auspicious. " Pow- 
hatan's daughter," says Sir Thomas Dale, in a letter 
from Jamestown, dated June 18, 1614, " I caused to 
be carefully instructed in the Christian religion, 
who, after she had made such progress therein, 
renounced publicly her country's idolatry, openly 
confessed her Christian faith, was, as she desired, 
baptized, and is since married to an English gentle- 
man of good understanding (as by his letter unto 
me, containing the reasons of his rnarriage unto her, 
you may perceive) — another knot to bind the knot 
the stronger. Her father and friends gave appro- 
bation of it, and her uncle gave her to him in the 
church. She lives civilly and lovingly with him, 
and I trust will increase in goodnesse as the knowl- 
edge of God increaseth in her. She will goe into 
England with mee, and were it but the gaining of 
this one such, I will tliink my time, toile and present 
stay well spent." 



33^ LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTEE II. 

The resources of Captain Smith were no doubt 
very much diminished by the life of comparative 
repose which he led in England, and by the ex- 
penses attending his cure. On this subject we are 
left wholly to conjecture. But, whether he finally 
obeyed the impulses of bis nature, or the necessities 
of his condition, we find him in 1G14 engaging in 
new perils and adventures, such as be had endured 
and abandoned in Virginia. It is safe to assume, 
that a temperament so active and a mind so curious 
after discovery, could not rest in idleness, whatever 
mio'bt have been his worldly means. Ills studies 
were of a sort to keep up in his bosom a passion for 
adventure; and his spirit yearned to lay bare the 
secret resources of that new continent, in the fate 
of which his sympathies were deeply engaged. He 
longed to emulate the achievements of the Spaniards 
in tlie southern portions of the country, though with 
a very decided English abhorrence of their faithless 
and bloody processes for conquest. To seek Vir- 
ginia a second time, though Virginia really seemed 
to need his genius for its preservation, was not to 
be entertained, while a sense of the injustice with 
which he had been treated by the proprietoi'S of that 
colony, was still fresh and rankling in his memory. 
His eyes were fixed, accordingly, on that portion of 
the English discovery which was then entitled North 
Virginia. Attempts had been made, probably with 
bis advice, by a company of London merchants, who 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 335 

sent forth one or more expeditions in this quarter. 
A settlement had actually been made by the Ply- 
mouth Company, on the coast of Maine, in 1607, and 
a small colony had passed a cheerless winter in that 
region. Their experience was such as to prompt 
their abandonment of the country, of which they 
gave a most discouraging account ; the effect of 
which was to prevent other attempts of the same 
sort, until the peculiar genius of Smith was brought 
to shape the enterprise. In the month of April, 
1614, he set sail from London with two ships. The 
expenses of the outfit were defrayed by himself and 
four London merchants. At this time, the land to 
which his prows were directed, Avas regarded as a 
most inhospitable desert — a vast tract of barren 
waste and rock — which was known in Europe as 
Nurembega, Canada, Penaquida, North Virginia, 
etc., precisely as it suited the tastes of those to call 
it by whom its uninviting coasts were ranged. Nor 
was it the leading purpose of the present voyage 
that a settlement should be made in the country. 
The scheme of the adventurers was partly the whale- 
fishery, partly a search after mines of gold and cop- 
per ; and, in the event of their failure in the search 
after these objects, then " fish and furs were to be 
their refuge." But " we found this whale-fishing a 
costly conclusion. We saw many, and spent much 
time in chasing them, but could not kill any." The 
search after gold was as little profitable. " It was 
rather the master's device to get a voyage that pro- 
jected it, than any knowledge we had of an}^ such 
matter." Fish and furs next^demanded the attention 
of our voyagers, but here again it was discovered 
that their "quest was likely to be in vain. " By our 
late arrival and long lingering about the whale, the 
prime of both these seasons was past ere Ave per- 
ceived it/' Some fish were taken, but not enough 



336 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

to defray the charge of the expedition. About sixty 
thousand cod were the fruit of a month's fishing of 
eighteen men, while Smith, with eight others, rang- 
ing the coast in an open boat, obtained from the 
savages more than ten thousand beaver, one hun- 
dred martin, and as many otter skins. These were 
procured at small expense. On this progress, Smith 
amused himself with making a chart of the coast, 
and writing down all the particulars which he could 
gather of the country, to which he gave the name 
of New England, which it now bears, and will prob- 
ably bear forever. 

Within six months after leaving the Downs, he 
returned with one of his ships, leaving the other in 
the command of Captain Thomas Hunt, who was 
instructed to carry his fish to Spain for a market. 
The choice of this man Avas uniortunate. Taking 
advantage of the absence of Smith, and governed 
by considerations of the most base and mercenary 
character, he decoyed twent3^-four of the savages on 
board his vessel, and, in cruel return for the kind- 
ness with which the English had been treated by 
their people, he sold them into slavery at Malaga. 
The proceeds were a little private perquisite for 
himself. Smith ascribes to him a more subtle policy 
— namely, to discourage any settlement of the 
country by making the English name odious to the 
natives, " thereby to keepe this abounding country 
still in obscuritie, that onely he and some few mer- 
chants more might enjoy wholl}'' the benefit of the 
trade." This object is not so apparent. The suf- 
ficient motive for the inhuman proceeding of such 
a wretch is to be found in the petty profits of a trade 
upon which no return need be made to the owners. 
It was no atonement to the people he had wronged 
that he was dismissed with indignation from em- 
ployment. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 337 

Smith presented his map and the record of his 
proceedings to Prince Charles, afterwards the 
unfortunate Charles the First, whose sanction he 
entreated for the adoption of the new nomenclature 
which he proposed to employ for his discoveries. 
But, though Charles graciously complied with this 
request, he has not been successful always in the 
rejection of the former names. Cape Cod still stub- 
bornly keeps its sturdy epithet, and will not be per- 
suaded into the adoption of the more gentle title of 
Cape " James." Cape Ann is too easy of utterance 
to be surrendered for Tragabigzanda, even though 
in tribute to the Turkish damsel who would have 
bestowed her charms on our hero. Even the name 
of (Smith himself, conferred modestly on a little 
group of isles, it better pleased the English lip to 
convert into the insignificant title of the Isles of 
Shoals. Surely, we might yield this little verbal 
tribute to him who was the first Admiral of New 
England. Numerous other names of places were 
changed by our explorer, who seems not to have 
affected the euphony of the Indian syllables. These, 
with very questionable taste, he repudiates for well- 
known English words. We cannot regret that the 
aboriginal words have been found of too sturd; 
a growth to be eradicated by the will of our 
venturer. 

Smith, on his return to England, put into Ply- 
mouth. He esteems it his ill luck to have done so ; 
for, " imparting his purpose to divers whom he 
thought his friends," they engaged his services for 
the Plymouth Company under a patent which had 
long lain dormant. They encouraged him with 
large promises, and thus secured his services which 
his late associates were quite unwilling to lose. 
His more recent engagement seems to have given 
offense to those, whose favoring and friendly opiniou 
S3 



rdy 
ad 



338 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

he was anxious to retain. But his faith was given, 
and he was not the man to seek escape, whatever 
might be his loss, from his engagement. 

The effect of this difficulty was to lead to the 
employment of a master, named Michael Cooper, 
on tbe part of the South Virginia Company ; and 
Smith's own facts and suggestiotis being seized upon. 
Cooper put to sea with four vessels, long before the 
Plymouth Company had made any provision for 
him. The success of his cod-fishery, under all its 
disadvantages, and the copious particulars which the 
frank nature of our Captain prompted him but too 
freely to make public, thus led to the antici])ation 
of his own plans by others, who never would have 
conceived them. Fifteen hundred pounds had been 
realized by his first voyage of six months. By 
knowing the season for furs better than the English, 
the French, during the same period, had obtained 
twenty-five thousand beaver skins. These, with 
other facts, gathered from Smith's relation, together 
with his unwittino^ eno^ao-ement with the Plvmouth 
Company, had given unwonted provocation to their 
rivals, who had thus taken the start of them in the 
adventure, to the great detriment of the former. 
Yet all the advantages, except that of capital, were 
with the latter. Could the two companies have 
united, and sent forth a single expedition from Ph^- 
mouth under our Captain, the results would have 
amply rewarded all parties. But commercial rivalry 
forbade the proper wisdom. '' Much labor I had 
taken to bring the Londoners and them to joyne 
together, because the Londoners have most money 
and the western men are most proper for fishing ; 
and it is neere as much trouble, but much more 
danger, to sailc from London to Plymouth, than 
from PljMUouth to New England, so that halfe the 
voyage would thus be saved; yet by no means could 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 339 

I prevaile, so desirous were they both to be lords of 
this fishing." 

Smith, on engaging with the Plymouth Com- 
pany, had been promised four good ships, which 
were to be ready by Christmas. In January, with 
two hundred pounds cash, for private adventure, 
he left London, accompanied by six of his friends, 
and went to Plymouth. His sanguine expecta- 
tions were doomed to disappointment. The ships 
were not ready ; and the Compan}^, owing to dis- 
couraging reports of disaster to other voyagers, had 
cooled in their desire for the enterprise. Yet in 
behalf of this Company, Smith had declined the 
command of the London expedition — the four ships 
sent out under Cooper — which had been first 
tendered to him. Ordinary men would have des- 
ponded under these circum^stances. Certainly, for- 
tune warred spitefully against our hero. But he 
was not discouraged. His soul was always too 
much in his scheme to yield readily to denials or 
reverses. He went to work with his wonted energy 
in beating up supplies and recruits. His friends 
came forward, he invested all that he himself had, 
and succeeded in getting furnished one vessel of 
two hundred and another of fifty tons. Sixteen 
persons were engaged to go in this expedition, with 
the view to a permanent settlement of the country. 
This was a favorite scheme with our adventurer, lie 
says in one of his narratives — "Nor will I spend more 
time in discovery or fishing till I may goe with a 
company for a plantation." He had th*e just notion 
of wiiat was essential to the permanence of conquest. 

The two vessels were soon made ready for the 
sea, and left Plymouth in March. But the ill luck 
which had thus far baffled him, was not disposed to 
forego its hostility. He had sailed little more than 
a hundred leagues, when the two vessels were sepa- 



340 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

rated by a tempest— the ship of Smith was dis- 
masted, and he was compelled to return to Ply- 
mouth under jurj'mast, the crew bein^^ kept at the 
pumps with every watch, with the dread of founder- 
ing momently before their eyes. The vessel, prob- 
ably old and worthless at the outset, and only 
patched up for the exigency, was not worthy of 
repairs, and we find our voyager resuming his ad- 
venture in a small bark of sixty tons, with but 
thirty men, instead of the seventy which he had in 
the former ship. He left Plymouth on the 24th 
of June. His consort, from whom lie had separated, 
weathered the gale in safety, and, ignorant of the 
fate of the larger ship, proceeded on her voyage, 
which was profitable in its results. But the evil 
eye was still upon our captain, and the adventure, 
so far as his progress was concerned, was one of 
mishaps and disappointments. His first danger was 
from an English pirate, a bark of one hundred and 
forty tons, manned by eighty men, and armed with 
thirty -six cannon. The little vessel of Smith was of 
three score tons only, with thirty seamen and four 
guns. His master, mate, pilot and others were very 
importunate with him to yield, and he had more 
trouble in the contest with their fears than he ex- 
pected to have with the foe. He was stubborn in his 
resolution to fight it out with the pirates, and made 
his preparations accordingly. But, when the enemy 
drew nigh, and recognized *^our adventurer, they be- 
came pacific. Their leaders recognized him as their 
former captain. They proffered him the command 
of their vessel. They were willing that he should 
lead them at his pleasure. They were prepared 
to confide in him rather than in themselves. In 
fact there was a mutiny among them. They had 
lately run from Tunis, lacked provisions, and were 
divided into contendincj factions. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 341 

It was unfortunate that Smith refused their al- 
liance. He afterwards repented that he had not 
accepted the command which they profiPered him. 
But he was discouraged by their mutinous condition, 
and had his heart too deeply set upon the leading 
object of his adventure, to trouble himself with the 
unnecessary task of reforming these profligates. 
But his own crew proved even less tractable. Near 
Fayal he was encountered by two other pirates. 
But these were Frenchmen. One of them was of 
two hundred and the other of thirty tons. Here 
again, his crew were terrified at the disparity of 
force, and positivel}^ refused to go to the guns. But 
our captain was not to be disgraced in this manner. 
He had a process of coercion which they learned to 
fear more than the enemy, and he prepared to fire 
his magazine, and blow his bark in air, rather than, 
^deld w^hile he had any powder left. This brought 
his mutineers back to their duty. They saw deter- 
mination in his eye, and the approach of the pirate 
was welcomed with a cannonade. A running fight 
followed, in which the English succeeded in making 
their escape. 

But their temporary good fortune was about to 
leave them. Near Flores they were chased and 
overtaken by four French men-of-war, all well armed, 
and each of them superior to the little craft of our 
Captain. He was made to go aboard of the French 
admiral and show his pa]>ers. These proved him to 
be neither Spaniard nor pirate, against whom the 
French vessels w^ere then cruising. But the laws of 
nations were but little insisted on in those days, 
where there was no adequate power to enforce 
them. Though Smith showed the broad seal of 
England to his commission, it was the policy of the 
Frenchman to believe him pirate, Spaniard, or what 
he pleased. They respected neither him nor his 



342 I-IFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

papers ; detained him a prisoner ; rifled his vessel ; 
manned her with Frenchmen ; and distributed the 
English as prisoners among their own ships. After 
several days' detention they capriciously restored 
his vessel to our adventurer, restored his men and 

Erovisions, and left him to pursue his voyage. This 
e resolved to do, much against the wishes of his 
crew ; but before he could separate from the French 
admiral, the latter sent his boat for him, requesting 
once more to see him. He obeyed the invitation, 
which was, in other words, a command ; and, while 
on board the admiral, a sail Avas espied, which sent 
all the ships forward in pursuit — all but the English 
vessel. Here, his discontents availing themselves of 
Smith's absence, the confusion of the chase, and 
the approach of night, turned their prow for Eng- 
land leaving " our Captaine in his cap, bretches, 
and waistcoat, alone among the Frenchmen." 
Smith asserts that his detention among the French 
was intentional, and induced in some degree by the 
machinations of two of his own seamen, Edward 
Chambers, the master, and John Miller, the mate, 
who had been discontents from the beginning of 
the voyage. They represented that he would " re- 
venge himself upon the Banlce, or in ]Sl eufoundland^ 
upon all the French he should there encounter." 
The mutineers reached Plymouth in safety, having 
divided Smith's personal property among them. A 
commission was instituted before the vice-admiral of 
England to investigate the proceedings, and the 
particulars thus given were derived from the state- 
ments, on oath, of six of the crew. Whether the 
mutineers were ever punished for this proceeding 
does not appear. The probabilities are against it. 
"The greatest losse," says Smith, "being mine," 
" the sailors did easily excuse themselves to the 
merchants in England that still provided to follow 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 343 

tbe fishing : much difference there was betwixt the 
Londoners and Westerlings to ingrosse it, who now 
would adventure thousands, that when I first went 
would not adventure a groat." Indeed, so com- 
pletely had our Captain shown the way, that he 
might almost as justly claim to have founded IsTew 
England as Virginia. 

Smith remained during the whole summer a 
prisoner on board the Frenchman. He soon dis- 
covered that his captors were little better than 
pirates. They certainly sailed under a commission 
which conferred great privileges. They scrupled at 
no sort of game. ISTothing came amiss that prom- 
ised to compensate the trouble and the cost of cap- 
ture ; and the cruise was one which promised to be 
profitable in a high degree. English ships were as 
frequently plundered as any other ; and our Cap- 
tain was frequently pained to see WTongs done to 
his countrymen, such as he himself had suffered, 
which he had not the power to prevent. But the 
English ships were sometimes hard customers for 
our French admiral ; and Smith indulges in a tone 
of laudable exultation when he finds the courage of 
his tribe asserting itself, now and then, triumphant 
over the cunning and treachery of their enemies. 
The details of what he witnessed during his cap- 
tivity will scarce concern us here. Our business is 
rather with himself. He was not idle during his 
captivity. Some time was spent by the French 
admiral in the neighborhood of the Azores. Here, 
" to keepe his perplexed thoughts from too much 
meditation of his miserable estate," he employed 
himself in writing a narrative of his voyages to New 
England, with an account of that country. His 
mind was never idle. His eye took in the details of 
a subject at a glance, and his thoughts compassed 
all its demands and necessities the moment after. 



344 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Nor did our Frenchmen leave him unemplo3''ed. 
Tliey were glad to use him whenever they fought 
Avith the Spaniards, and he seems to Iiave been no 
ways unwilling to encounter the national enemy. 
But when the toe was English, then he was again 
made a prisoner. Ills readiness in these cases se- 
cured the favor of his captors. The French captain 
promised to put him ashore at the Azores, but broke 
his promise, and it Avas not till the summer was 
over that he was permitted to approach the land. 
Reaching Rochelle, the fair promises of the captain 
were forgotten, and Smith, instead of freedom and 
reward, was made a close prisoner, and charged with 
having burnt Port Royal in New France, in 1613 a 
deed that was done by Captain Aro;all. The object 
of this accusation was to scare him into giving them 
a discharge before the Judge of Admiralty. 

Our hero was very much in their power. It was 
not easy to find justice for an Englishman in France, 
during the feeble foreign administration of any of 
the Stuart family. Besides, it was a time of great 
civil commotion among the French — " a time of 
combustion, the Prince of Condy with his army in 
the field, and every poor lord or man in authority, 
as little Idngs of themselves." 

Smith reasoned justly when he concluded that his 
chief hope must rest upon himself. He determined 
to escape, if possible. He watched his opportunities 
accordingly, and, one dark night, at the close of a 
storm, wliich had driven the Frenchmen into close 
cover below, he let himself down into their boat, and 
with a half pike instead of an oar, he set himself 
adrift in the hope to reach a contiguous islet. But 
the current was against him, and carried him out to 
sea. Here, in a small boat, without even the proper 
implement by which to work his way, amidst gust, 
and rain, and darkness, for the space of twelve hours 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 345 

our fearless adventurer, struggling manfully all the 
while against his fate, looked momentarily to be 
hurried to the bottom. " But it pleased God that 
the wind should turn with the tide," and while 
" many ships were driven ashore and divers split," 
his boat was drifted upon a marshy islet, where he 
was picked up the next day by " certaine fowlers, 
neere drowned and halfe dead with water, cold and 
hunger." His escape had been a narrow one. In 
flying from captivity he had also flown from death. 
The ship of his captors had been driven ashore, and 
her captain drowned with half of his crew. 



346 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH, 



CHAPTER III. 

Thus preserved by the special mercies of Provi- 
dence, amidst so many disasters, and even against his 
own expectations. Smith found the means for get- 
ting to Rochelie by pawning the boat which had 
borne him through his dangers. At this place he 
preferred his complaint to the Judge of Admiralty, 
against the Frenchman who had captured him, and 
was listened to with patience and many promises. 
Here he first received tidings of the wreck of the 
vessel in which he had been detained, and the drown- 
ing of her commander. Some of the survivors 
whom he encountered he caused to be arrested, and 
their story, on examination, confirmed his own. 
These particulars, properly put on record, he placed 
in the hands of the English ambassador, then at 
Bordeaux. But nothing seems to have come of his 
complaint. The foreign relations of the Govern- 
ment of Great Britain, under the feeble administra- 
tion of James, were not of a sort to command much 
respect among the natives of the continent. Smith 
says — " of the wracke of the rich prize, some three 
thousand six hundred crownes worth of goods came 
ashore and were saved, with the caraval, which T 
did my best to arrest ; the Judge promised 1 should 
have justice ; what will be the conclusion as yet I 
know not. But, under the colour to take Pirats and 
the West Indie men (because the Spaniards wnll not 
suffer the French to trade in the West Indies), any 
goods from thence, thou oh they take them upon the 
coast of Spaine, are lawf uU prize, or from any of his 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 347 

territories out of the limits of Europe : — and as they 
betraied me, though I had the broad seale, so did 
they rob and pillage twentie saile of English men 
more, besides them I knew not, of the same yeere." 
And there was no redress for the subject, whether 
from France or England. The feebleness of the 
latter invited the aggressions of the former. A 
Cromwell was the only necessary cure for these 
foreign evils, and his day was approaching. But he 
came too slowly for the'help of Smith. Our adven- 
turer would have been reduced to sad straits in 
France, wanting means, but that he met good 
friends. It was his good fortune to meet his " old 
friend, Master Crampton, that no less grieved at his 
losse" than willingly, to the extent of his resources, 
supplied his wants ; and " I must confesse," he adds, 
"I was more beholden to the FrenchmiCn that es- 
caped drowning, to the laAvyers of Bourdeaux," and 
to another whom we shall name hereafter, than to 
" all the rest of my countrymen I met in France." 
This other was of the gentler sex — a Madame 
Chanoyes, of Eochelle — who, he tells us, " bounti- 
fully assisted "him. Smith was always fortunate 
in finding favor with the ladies. His person was 
good, his manners easy and dignified. His mind 
was essentially pure and elevated. His delicacy 
was distinguished. He had few or novices; and, 
stern in battle, rigid in rule, and uncompromising 
with his foes, he was yet in every sense of the word 
a gentleman. One of his eulogists, who signs him- 
self " Your true friend, sometimes your souldier, 
Tho, Carlton," writes : 

** I never knew a warrior yet, but thee, 
From iviney tobacco, debts, dice, oaihs, sofi-ee." 

The line sums up a grent mnnv of those vices, from 
one or other of which, soldiers of fortune are seldom 



348 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

free; and when we regard the trials and vicissi- 
tudes, the necessities and the frequent irresponsibil- 
ity of his career, we must allow that, but for a 
native delicacy of character. Smith could scarcely 
have escaped contamination from one or other of 
the practises here enumerated, and which vicious 
mostly in themselves, are but too much regarded as 
venial because of their common use. One of his 
poet-eulogists ascribes the favor of Madame 
Chanoyes to a far tenderer feeling than that of 
simple humanity : 

" Tragabigzand'a, Callamata's love, 
Deare Pocahontas, Madame Shanois too, 
WJio did what love with modesty could doe." 

But this is probably an exaggeration of the verse- 
monger. We have nothing in proof of the insinua- 
tion. Smith himself affords no countenance to the 
suggestion, and in no instance suffers himself to 
speak of either of these ladies, but in terms of proper 
and respectful gratitude. 

" Leaving thus my businessein France, I returned 
to Piimoth, to finde them that had thus buried me 
amongst the French, and not only buried me, but 
with so much infamy as such treacherous cowards 
could suggest to excuse their villanies." They pre- 
tended, in short, that he was about to convert his 
vessel into a man-of-war — in other words to become 
a pirate. "The chieftaines of this mutiny that 1 
could finde, I laid by the heeles ; the rest, like them- 
selves, confessed the truth." Our narrative of the 
second voyage to 'New England, as far as they were 
concerned in the events, has been drawn from this 
confession. But Smith gained nothing for his own, 
in bringing the mutineers to their deserts. The 
fisheries, to which he had opened the way, yielded 
vast profits to the adventurers. The fishers of Ice- 
land and ]N"ewfoundland abandoned these places for 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 349 

those of the waters of New England. Kew Eng- 
land herself was laid open as a rich prize to other 
colonists, in consequence of Smith's discoveries and 
representations. He alone pined with denial, while 
he beheld others grow prosperous and insolent in 
the wages of his adventure, and the spoils that 
should have rewarded his genius only. " Now, how 
I have, or could prevent these accidents, having no 
more meanes, I rest at your censures ; but to pro- 
ceed to the matter, yet must I sigh and say, ' How 
oft hath fortune in the world brought slavery free- 
dome, and turned all diversel3\' " The disasters 
all happened to him and not to the enterprises 
which he set on foot. Two lines, seemingly his own, 
are made to finish his desponding fancies with a 
well-known sarcasm : 

*' Fortune makes provision 
For knaves, and fools, and men of base condition.'* 

Denied to seek adventures because of the sad and 
prolonged hostility of fortune, the indefatigable 
nature of Smith counseled him to put on record, 
and in proper circulation, his discoveries. He wrote 
a book call " New England's Trial." The trial was 
in fact his own. It embodied all that he had en- 
dured in his two voyages, all that he had seen and 
heard, his comments upon bis facts, and a sprinkling 
of his moral philosophies, drawn from his reading and 
his experience. Muchiof the matter of this volume was 
written while he was a captive with the Frenchman. 
Much of it appears scattered over his other writings. 
In the preparation of his pamphlets he was quite desul- 
tory, and frequently refers to, and sometimes repeats, 
the^natter which we find in other places. The pres- 
ent work, which was published in 1016, was put forth 
in quarto form. It gives such sketches of New 
England as he formerly gave us of Yirginia. It 



350 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

describes the shores, and seas, and islands, along 
the coast, the people of the country, their manners, 
customs and superstitions. It has its value to this 
day, and is the source of much of the information 
of succeeding historians. It was accompanied by a 
map of New England, and one edition of the work 
contained several maps, as well of that region as of 
Virginia. Colonization in New England was still 
the object upon which his desires were set. To 
effect this object he traversed England, distribut- 
ing his book. Thousands of copies were given to 
chartered companies of London, in the hope that 
they might be persuaded to embrace his sugges- 
tions. But his time seems to have been thrown 
away, if not his knowledge. None of it enured to 
his benefit. The opinion began to spread about 
that he was unlucky, and to be unlucky is, unhap- 
pily, in the vulgar estimate, to be something worse 
than vicious and unwise. No imputation, indeed, 
so certainly forfeits for its subject the sympathies 
of the selfish multitude. Smith answers this im- 
putation of ill luck with a cheerful defiance. 
" Some fortune-tellers say I am unfortunate. Had 
they spent their time as I have done, they would 
rather believe in God than in their calculations." 
This is very nobly said. His own want of means — 
his poverty — was urged against him as the only 
fruit of all his adventures. But this he answers, 
still as nobW. These profitless adventures which 
have given him empire and conquest, and which 
have left him unselfish, have been to him "as chil- 
dren — they have been my wife, my hawks, my 
hounds, my cards, my dice, and in totall, my best 
content." He has exercised his own nature in his 
adventures — he has brought into play the best 
affections of his soul — his troubles have taught him 
a knowledge of his resources — his privations and pov* 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 351 

erty have not brought remorse, regret and repent- 
ance in their train. " I would yet begin againe with 
as small means as at first, not that I have any en- 
couragement more than lamentable experience." 
Of the discoveries of those who have followed him, 
he says, coarsely but with natural energy, "they 
are but pigs of my own sow.'* " Had men been as 
forward to adventure their purses, and perform the 
conditions they promised mee, as to crop the fruits 
of mv labours, thousands ere this had been bettered 
by these designs." " They dare now adventure a 
ship, that, when I first went, would not adventure a 
groat." 

Still, though they glean from his suggestions, they 
cannot do them proper justice. He has learned to 
feel a manly confidence in his own genius, if not in 
his fortune. It is Smith, only, that can properly 
work out the schemes of Smith, to a happy consum- 
mation. " For I know my grounds, yet every one 
to whom I tell them, or that reads this book, cannot 
put them in practise." He is not illiberal even to 
those who seek to pilfer from his plans. " Though 
they endeavor to worke me out of my own designes, 
I will not much envy their fortunes ; but I would 
be sorry their intruding ignorance should by their 
def ailments bring these certainties to doubtfulnesse." 
The eagerness which he feels to continue his career 
of colonization and discovery, qualified by the mourn- 
ful results of his own struggle, hitherto, to impress 
his convictions upon others, declares itself in a highly 
bold and spirited figure, taken from the manege of 
the days of chivalry. " Thus, betwixt the spur of 
desire and the bridle of reason, I am near ridden to 
death in a ring of despaire." His own demands, in 
the event of success, were moderate enough. He 
asks only to be rewarded out of the results of the 
adventure, according to his pains, quality, and con- 



852 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. • 

dition. If he fails — " If I abuse you with my 
tongue, take my head for satisfaction." 

But he had survived his fortunes. He was a 
lingerer on the stage. Who keeps the guide when 
the way is once made clear ? Who needs a Columbus 
to place the Qgg upright when he has flattened the 
point already to their hands? The claims of jus- 
tice are always urged impertinently when it is in the 
power of men to thrust them from sight v/ith im- 
punity ; and great men, having achieved the lead- 
ing event in their lives, are not willingly believed in 
any longer, since they always require to be com- 
pensated for future services, with some regard to 
the value of the past. Smith urged 4iis arguments 
and distributed his books in vain. His mission was 
at an end with regard to all new discover3^ But he 
could still be of service ; and we find him called upon 
without scruple by those who never knew how to 
compensate him, when his experience and opinions 
might be esteemed of importance to the interests 
which he had already acquired for them. We must 
once more turn our"^ eyes upon the colony in Vir- 
ginia. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 353 



CHAPTER lY. 

"While Smith was struggling with misfortune at 
home, the colony which he had founded in Virginia 
was rising into greater strength and consequence. 
Its military characteristics were, however, much 
more conspicuous than its sociaL It warred not 
only upon the Indians but upon the French and 
Dutch. Early in 1614, Sir Thomas Dale, the govern- 
or of the colony, sent Captain Argall with a force 
against certain settlements which the French had 
made in Acadia. These were broken up and the 
colonists dispersed. They subsequentl}^ adapted 
themselves to the habits of the Indians, and were 
incorporated among the tribes. Hudson's Dutch 
settlement, now New York, was also made to ac- 
knowledge the King of Enoland, and to pay a 
tribute to the Governor of Virginia ; and, waxing 
insolent with success, and with the gradual increase 
of power, another demand was made upon Powhatan. 
Sir Thomas Dale thouoht it advisable to insist upon 
other pledges besides Pocahontas, but of a like de- 
scription. Powhatan had another and a younger 
daughter. She had become her father's favorite, 
who now yielded her that place in his affections 
which had formerly been solely occupied by the 
former. The attachment of Pocahontas for the 
English, her marriage with an Englishman, and her 
entire w^ithdrawal from his sight, had served, in a 
great degree, to wean from lier his regards, and, 
accordingly, to lessen that influence upon his mind 
23 



354 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

which she had formerly possessed, and which was 
of so much importance to the colonists. It will 
scarcely be believed, that the selfishness of the 
colony was of such a nature as to make its govern- 
ment heedless or blind to the cruelty of the requisi- 
tion which it made upon the aged Emperor, for the 
other child of his affections. Mr. Kalph Hamer 
w^as sent upon this mission, and the details of his 
interview with Powhatan have been preserved to us. 
Hamer was accompanied by Thomas Savage, the 
interpreter, a youth who had been given by New- 
port to the king. Powhatan recognized the boy, 
whom he had restored some years before to the 
English. " You were my boy,'' he said, " and I gave 
you leave, four years ago, to visit your friends ; 
but I have never seen nor heard of you, nor of my 
own man, Namontack, since; though many ships 
have gone and returned." Then, turning to Ilaraer, 
he demanded the chain of pearl — the string of 
wampum — which, when a treaty of peace had been 
made with the English, at the time of his daughter's 
marriage, he had sent to Sir Thomas Dale. That 
string of pearl was to be a token between them ; 
and in proof that the messenger came from the 
English, whenever Dale should send to him here- 
after. Failing in this, Powhatan was to take and 
bind the alleged messenger, and send him back to 
Dale as a deserter. Hamer had not provided him- 
self with this chain. The requisitions of the Indians 
were apt to be treated heedlessly. Powhatan looked 
doubtfully upon his visitor, but Hamer found some 
ingenious reason for showing that the stipulation 
could not relate to him, and Powhatan admitted the 
exception. He inquired after Pocahontas, and his 
unknown son, and was pleased to hear of their pros- 
perity. When told that his daughter was so well 
satisfied with her new condition that she would 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 865 

not, upon any account, return to live with him, ho 
laughed heartily, as if his old affections were rejoiced 
at the happiness of his child. ^ 

But when Hamer came to declare his business— 
to show the cruel purpose upon which he came— the 
face of the old chief grew troubled. His counte- 
nance fell and darkened. Of course, the application 
was made in a form or as much mildness as was con- 
sistent with the rapacious harshness of the demand. 
"His brother, Dale, had heard of the fame of 
his youngest daughter, intended to marry her to 
some worthy English gentleman, which would be 
highly pleasing and agreeable to her sister, who was 
verv desirous to see and have her near her ; and, as 
a testimony of his love," the father was desired to 
send her also to the English. . 

Powhatan, conscious of the power of the colonists, 
and unwilling to offend them, endeavored to evade 
the demand. " He had parted with his daughter- 
he had already given her in marriage to a chief- 
had sold her to him, and received his pay." When 
pressed and driven from these objections, he at length 
declared himself f ranldv with the feeling of a father 
and the dignity of a prince. He desired Hamer to 
urge him no more upon the subject, but to return 
toTiis brother Dale this answer : 

" That he held it not a brotherly part to endeavor 
to bereave him of his two darling children at once : 
That, for his part, he desired no farther assurance 
of Dale's friendship than his promise: That, of his 
own, the English had a sufficient pledge m one of 
his daughters ; which, as long as she lived, wou d 
be sufficient ; and should she die, then he should 
have another. Tell him further," said he, "that 
even were there no pled2:e, there need be no distrust 
of me or my people. We have had enough of war. 
Too many already have been slain on both sides. 



356 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

With my will there shall be no more. I have the 
power here, and I have given the law to my people. 
1 am now grown old. I would end my days in 
peace and quietness. My country is large enough 
for both, and even though 3'ou give me cause of 
quarrel, I will rather go from you than fight with 
you. Take this answer to my brother." 

And the agent in this unworthy mission received 
no other. He returned to his principal as he went. 
How far Pocahontas may have been privy to the 
application is not said. Her name is not otherwise 
mentioned in the transaction than as it appears in 
Hamer's report of the message which Dale had sent 
to Powhatan. It is scarcely possible that she will- 
ingly gave her consent to a scheme for depriving 
her aged sire of the only thing which he had chosen 
to comfort him after her desertion. 

Pocahontas seems really to have been fully satis- 
fied, as Hamer reported to her father, with her Eng- 
lish associations and condition. She had been 
baptized, and had received the Christian name of 
Kebecca. It was only after this event that the 
colonists discovered that her real name was Matoaka 
or Matoax, and that the name of Pocahontas was 
one only assumed when she was spoken of to Eng- 
lish ears. A superstition, which prevailed among 
the Indians, led them to fear that, with a knowledge 
of her true name, it was in the power of the Chris- 
tians to do her hurt. The superstition of the evil 
mouth, as well as the evil eye, was quite as common 
among our aborigines as it has ever been among the 
various people of the East. Her adoption of Chris- 
tianity seems to have been fervent and sincere. She 
is described as of quick intelligence, in learning 
equally the faith and language of her husband ; and 
her career from childhood amply declares the aver- 
sion which she felt for the wild exercises and coarse 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN kSMITH. 357 

brutalities of her own people. She was with them, 
but not of thera — a creature, as foreign to the sort 
of world in which she is found, as was that exquisite 
creation of Goethe — the Mignon of the Wilhelm 
Meister. Her whole nature was gentleness — there 
was in her a spiritual ci'aving, which alone seems to 
have indicated the necessity for the advent, among 
her tribes, of a superior divinity. The heart which 
has expelled all other idols, will never be left un- 
occupied by the true God. 

In the spring of 1616, Sir Thomas Dale embarked 
for England, taking with him Pocahontas and her 
husband, and several young Indians of both sexes. 
He enjoyed the triumph which should have belonged 
to Smith. Powhatan did not see his daughter when 
she left the country. He never saw her again. The 
old chief was at this time suffering, not only from 
the pressure of years, but from the dread of foes at 
home. He had reason to dread the machinations of 
Opechancanough — a chief every way to be feared ; 
a favorite with the people ; a man of great courage 
and ability. He aimed at the succession, and finally 
achieved it. Opitchapan (who is sometimes called 
Itopatin), the favorite brother of Powhatan, was 
lame and feeble ; and, the latter once removed, could 
oppose no serious obstacle to the bolder and abler 
genius of Opechancanough. We shall return to this 
history again. It is enough here to say, that the 
reason given for the failure of Powhatan to see his 
daughter before her final departm^e, Avas the neces- 
sity which he felt of watching or avoiding the 
machinations of the former ; who was suspected of a 
plan to deliver him hand and foot into the hands of 
the English. 

Pocahontas arrived in England on the 12Lh of 
June. Her fame had long since preceded her, and 
made her an object of consideration. Respect and 



358 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

curiosity equally brought her the attentions of the 
great. She was visited by persons of rank and 
character, whose hospitality spared no pains to make 
her satisfied with the strange country in which 
she found herself. 

Smith was preparing at this time for a third 
voyage to New England. His sanguine tempera- 
ment seems to have persuaded him, against the fact, 
that he was in a fair way of obtaining the command 
of a new expedition. "With his heart exulting in 
new hopes of a favorite character, he was yet not 
unmindful of his Virginia nonpareil. As soon as he 
heard of her arrival in England, he penned the 
following letter *' To the most high and virtuous 
Princess, Queen Anne of Great Britain: 

" Most admired Queen, 

" The love I beare my God, my King and countrie, 
hath so oft emboldened mee in the worst of extreme 
dangers, that now honestie doth constraine mee 
presume thus farre beyond myselfe to present your 
majestic this short discourse : if ingratitude be a 
deadly poyson to all honest vertues, I must bee 
guiltie of that crime if I should omit any meanes to 
be thankful. 

"So it is, that some ten years agoe, being in 
Yirginia and taken prisoner iy the power of Pow- 
hatan, their chief king, I received from this great 
salvage exceeding great courtesies, especially from 
his son Nantaquuas, the most manliest, comeliest, 
boldest spirit I ever saw in a salvage, and his sister 
Pocahontas, the king's most deare and well beloved 
daughter, being but a childe of twelve or thirteen 
yeeres of age,* whose compassionate, pitifull heart, 

* We have seen in the "True Relation," written at the 
time, that he describes her as a child of ten years old — a 
statement more likely to be correct than the present, as liis 
impressions were necessarily more fresh and vivid : he speaks 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 359 

of desperate estate, gave me much cause to respect 
her : I being the first Christian this proud king and 
his grim attendants ever saw : and thus in thralled 
in their barbarous power, I cannot say I felt the 
least occasion of want that was in the power of 
those, my mortal foes, to prevent, notwithstanding 
all their threats. After some six weeks fatting 
amongst those savage courtiers, at the minute of my 
execution, she hazarded the beating out of her own 
braines to save mine ; and not onely that, but so 
prevailed with her father, that I was safely con- 
ducted to Jamestowne, where 1 found about eight 
and thirtie miserable, poore and sicke creatures, to 
keepe possession of all those large territories of 
Virginia : such was the weaknesse of this poor com- 
monwealth, as, had the savages not fed us, we 
directly had starved. 

" And this reliefe, most gracious Queene, was 
commonly brought us by this Lady Pocahontas; 
notwithstanding all these passages when inconstant 
fortune turned our peace to warre, this tender 
virgin would still not spare to dare to visit us, and 
by her own faires have been oft appeased, and our 
wants still supplyed ; were it the policie of her 
father thus to imploy her, or the ordinance of God 
thus to make her his instrument, or her extraor- 
dinarie affection to our nation, I know not : but 
of this I am sure, — when her father, with the utmost 
of his policie and power, sought to surprise me, 
having but eighteen with me, the dark night could 
not affright her from comming through the irkesome 
woods, and with watered eyes gave me intelligence, 

of her only as of a child, sweet and wonderful, but still a child. 
Had she been marriageable then, she would have found au 
English husband — nay, in all probability, as soon as she was 
marriageable, the idea, never before entertained, was sug- 
gested of taking her prisoner. 



360 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

with her best advice to escape his furie: which, 
had he knowne, he had surely slaine her. James- 
towne, with her wiide traine, she as freely frequented 
as her father's habitation ; and during the time of 
two or three yeares, she next under God, was still 
the instrument to preserve this colonie from death, 
famine and utter confusion ; which, if in those times 
had once become dissolved, Virginia might have 
line (lain) as it was at our first arrival to this day. 
Since then, this business having beene turned and 
varied by many accidents from that I left it at : it is 
most certaine, after a long and troublesome warre 
after ray departure, betwixt her father and our 
colonie, all which time she was not heard of, about 
two years after she herselfe was taken prisoner, 
being so detained neere two years longer, the colonie 
by that meanes was relieved, peace concluded, and 
at last, rejecting her barbarous condition, was 
married to an English gentleman, with whom at 
this present she is in England ; the first Christian 
ever of that nation, the first Virginian ever spake 
English, or had a childe in marriage by an English- 
man ; — a matter, surely, if my meaning bee truly 
considered and well understood, worthy a Prince s 
understanding. 

" Thus, most gracious lady, I have related to your 
Majestic, what at your best leasure our approved 
histories will account you at large, and done in the 
time of your Majestie's life, and however this might 
bee presented you from a more worthy pen, it cannot 
from a more honest heart. As yet I never begged 
anything of the state, or of any, and it is my want 
of abilitie and her exceeding desert, your birth, 
meanes and authoritie, her birth, virtue, want and 
simplicitie, doth make mee thus bold, humbly to 
beseeche your Majestic to take this knowledge of 
her; though it be from one so unworthy to be the 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 361 

reporter as myselfe, her husband's estate not being 
able to make her fit to attend your majestie : the most 
and least I can doe, is to telf you this, because none 
so oft has tried it as myselfe ; and the rather, bein^ 
of so great a spirit, however her stature, if it should 
not bee well received, seeing this kingdome may 
rightly have a kingdome by hermeanes — her present 
love to us and Christianitie might turn to such 
scorn and furie as to direct all this good to the 
worst of evil — where finding so great a Queene 
should doe her some honour more than she can 
imagine, for being so kind to your servants and sub- 
jects, would so ravish her with content, as endeare 
her dearest blood to effect that your Majestie and 
all the king's honest subjects most earnestly desire. 
And so I humbly kisse your gracious hands"" 

This letter, earnest as it is, is not written with the 
usual eloquence and ease of our adventurer. Big 
with his subject, and writing to a Queen, he seems 
to have been struggling with his own conceptions, 
and to have been overcome by them. His thoughts 
are clumsily uttered, and never came to their full 
proportion in delivery. But he evidently wrote 
from his feelings, and may be believed when he 
asserts that, though his statement might be pre- 
sented from " a more worthy pen," it could not come 
"from a more honest heart." We are not told 
whether it was to this address that Pocahontas was 
indebted for those attentions Avhich the Queen of 
England, as well as her consort, bestowed upon her. 
She was kindly and honorably entertained at court, 
though the tradition is that her husband Rolfe was 
frowned upon for his presumption in intermarrying 
with royal blood. The Scottish Solomon, whose 
tenacious sense of legitimacy was probably the one 
principle to which he more religiously adhered than 
to any other, is said to have held the proceeding as 



362 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

little less than treason or misdemeanor. It is for- 
tunate that John Rolle's ears did not pay the pen- 
alty of his ambition. 

Smith did not content himself with simply writ- 
ing to the queen in behalf of the Lady Rebecca, for 
such was the name she bore in England. Though 
earnestly engaged in his ])reparations for the voy- 
age to Kew England, he hurried with several of his 
friends to see her at Brentford, whither she had 
been removed from London. At this tim.e Smith 
was probably at Plymouth. TTe have the account 
of the interview from himself. It was highly 
touching, but unsatisfactor}^. His salutation was 
probably reserved and cautious, and she was in a 
strange land. She expected the w^armest signs of 
attachment from one whom she had regarded with 
the devotion of a child ; and he was governed by 
those fears of offending the suspicious pedant who 
sat upon the throne of England, of whose opinion, 
in this very instance, our Captain w^as probably 
aware. The untutored damsel of the Virginian 
forests could not understand his reserve, though the 
real motive of his caution w^as that she might not 
prejudice her claims to the patronage of the crown. 
She felt his coldness, but not his policy. She cared 
nothing, perhaps, for any countenance but his. 
"After a modest salutation," such is Smith's state- 
ment, "without any w^ord she turned about, ob- 
scured her face, as not seeming well contented." 
How much spirit w^as in that silence ! What feel- 
ings were stirring in that untutored but noble bosom, 
which could thus move her to shroud and turn 
away her face ! She had calculated largely, no 
doubt, upon this meeting with the great warrior 
of the pale-faces, who had first impressed her with 
the greatness of his people. And to be encoun- 
tered thus, as if he had never been plucked from 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 363 

death by her embrace — as if she had never wan- 
dered through the midnight woods to save him — as 
if she had not brought him food when he hun- 
gered, and taught her maidens to dance about him 
in strange forest movements, the better to beguile 
his weariness. In her secret heart she reproached 
him with want of gratitude — at the very moment 
when he acknowledged no other feeling. 

Smith had told his friends that she spoke the 
English, and now regretted having done so, for she 
refused to speak. In this mood they left her for 
some hours ; when the}^ rejoined her, a more indul- 
gent spirit informed her thoughts. She now spoke, 
and spoke freely. They spolce together of the 
past, and she thus reminded him of her former love 
to the English, and what she had done for them. 

" You did promise Powhatan," said she, " that 
what was yours should be his, and he made a like 
promise unto you. You, being in his land a stran- 
ger, called him father, and by the same right I will 
call you so." 

Smith would have objected to this " because she 
was a king's daughter,-' and having a fear of King 
James in his eyes ; but, " with a well-set countenance 
she said, ' Were you not afraid to come into my 
father's country, and cause fear in him and all his 
people but myself, and do you fear that I should 
call you father here? I tell you that I will call you 
father, and you shall call me child, and so shall it 
be forever. They did always tell us that j^ou were 
dead, and I knew not otherwise until I came to 
Plymouth. Yet Powhatan believed it not, because 
your countr^Mnen will lie much, and he commanded 
Uttomatomakkin * to seek vou out and know the 
truth.' " 

* " This salvage, one of Powhatan's coiinsell, being amongst 
them held an understanding fellow, the king purposely sent 



364 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Smith frequently visited her, and enjoyed, with a 
not unbecoming satisfaction, the astonishment of 
those " divers courtiers and others, my acquaint- 
ances," whom she delighted by her natural gifts, 
and the happy manner m which she received them. 
" They did thinke God had a great hand in her con- 
version, and they have seene many English ladies 
worse favored, proportioned and behaviored." 

But the career of the Indian princess was short in 
England. She sickened and died at Gravesend, 
early in 1617, as she was preparing to return to 
Yirginia. The event was unexpected, but it did 
not find her unprepared. She presented to the sor- 
rowing spectators the sweetest example of Christian 
resignation and fortitude. She left one son, Thomas 
Rolfe, who was educated by his uncle, Henry Eolfe, 
in England, and who afterwards became a person of 
distinction and fortune in Yirginia. From an only 
daughter, whom he left,* some of the first families 

him, as they say, to number the people here, and inforrae him 
■well what wee were and our state. Arriving at Plymouth, 
according to his directions he got a long sticke, whereon by 
notches hee did tliink to have kept the number of all the 
men hee could see, but he was quickly wearied of this task." 
( a ) — Smith's Narra tive. 

This cunning savage denieil to Smith that he had seen the 
king (James), thougli it was known tliat he had. He argued 
that, as the king had given him nothing, it could not be a 
king he had seen. " You gave a wliite dog to Powhatan," 
said he to Smith, " yet to me, that am better than a white 
dog, your king has given nothing." 

This shrewd savage is sometimes called Tomoccomo, and 
sometimes Uttomaccomach. His accounts of England were 
unfriendly, and he was disgraced on his return to Virginia. 

* He left behind him an only daughter, who was man-iedto 
Col. Robert Boiling, by whom she left an only son. the late 
Major John Boiling, who was father to the present Col. John 

(a) When he returaed to Virginia and was asked the num- 
ber of the peo]3le, he answered, " Count the stars in the sky, 
the leaves of the forest, and the sands of the seashore — sach is 
the number of the people of England." — Stith. 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 865 

of Yirffinia trace their descent, with a just and hon- 
orable pride. Among these we may mention a re- 
cent and distinguishedf instance, in the person of J ohn 
Kandolph of Eoanoke. 

Boiling and several daughters, niamed to Col. Rjf ard Ran- 
dolDh Col. John Fleming, Dr. William Guy, Mr. f^omas 
EMridge and Mr. James Murray. So that the remnant of the 
irmSrill family of Virginia, which long^ ran in a single per- 
sTis nowTncreased, Ind branched out into a very numerous 
progeny.— (Stit/i, 146. 



366 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



CHAPTER Y. 

To attempt any analysis of the character of Poca- 
hontas — to offer any eulogy upon her virtues, so 
equally delicate and decided as they were, would 
only result in unnecessary declamation. As there 
is nothing to question in the propriety of her con- 
duct, so there is nothing which needs defense; as 
there can be no doubt of the extraordinary courage 
which she brought to the support of a benign human- 
ity, equally extraordinary, so nothing is necessary 
to the full comprehension of her virtues beyond the 
actual facts in ner history. As these virtues were 
not of the time or the people among whom she was 
born and nurtured, so they denote a degree of ex- 
cellence which lifts her beyond her race and period, 
and links her name and reputation with those of the 
few noble spirits, like herself, of whom the uni- 
versal heart everywhere keeps a tenacious memory. 
A more incomparable creature never did honor to 
her sex. A more feminine spirit never was sent to 
earth for the purposes of humanity. 

Powhatan did not long survive his daughter. He 
lived long enough to lament her. He died in April, 
1618, and was succeeded by Itopatin. For a time 
Opechancanough seems to have submitted to his 
sway ; and a hollow amnesty lulled the colonists of 
Virginia into full confidence in their treacherous 
neighbors. They were warned of this impolicy, but 
treated the warning with contempt — the population 
of the colon^r increasing annually, and the adven- 
turers scattering themselves, with few precautions, 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 36t 

throughout the forests. But the complete govern- 
ment of the Indians was passing into the hands of 
Opechancanough. Itopatin was a mere puppet at 
his will. The former was the leading spirit of his 
people; bold, subtle, highly popular, enterprising, 
and possessed of vast powers of dissimulation. 
With the gradual acquisition of sway over the pop- 
ular mind, he prepared for the full assertion of his 
authority. To supersede Itopatin and to extirpate 
the English, were his favorite objects, and his 
schemes rapidly ripened for their gratification. 
The year 1622 was rendered memorable in Virginia by 
the massacre of nearly four hundred of the thought- 
less and unsuspicious settlers. So well was the plan 
of the Indians laid, and so general was the combina^ 
tion, that, at the appointed hour, the several assail- 
ing parties, however remote from one another, were 
each of them at the appointed places in which the 
separate tasks of slaughter were to be done. That 
the massacre was not complete, was not the fault ot 
the Indians, nor because of the vigilance of the Eng- 
lish. Their good fortune saved them from utter ex- 
termination. 

This terrible event threw the whole country into 
consternation, and inflicted a most serious blow up- 
on the success of the colony. The excitement was 
great in England, and our Captain was remembered 
as one whose experience might be drawn upon with 
profit to find some remedy for so grievous a dis- 
aster. He offered, with a hundred and thirty men, 
to render the colony perfectly safe against all the 
power of the tribes. His scheme was one which 
has been largely adopted in the settlement of our 
borders in after times. It was to employ bands of 
Kano'ers, by whom the frontiers were to be con- 
tinually traversed. " These I would imploy onely 
in ranging the countries and tormenting the savages, 



3C8 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

and that they should be as a running army, till this 
were effected, and then settle themselves in some 
such convenient place, that should ever remain a 
garrison of that strength, ready upon any occasion 
against the savages, or any other, for the defense 
of the country." Smith was at some pains to urge 
this, and some other schemes, for the restoration 
and safety of the colony, upon the proprietors. He 
was deeply affected by the fate of the settlement. 
His affections yearned towards it, and he was pre- 
pared to forget and surrender his old grudges upon 
the altar of patriotism. He frankly proposed to 
take charge of such a command as that which he 
counseled, and his opinions were given at consider- 
able detail, involving suggestions of operations by 
the water courses of the country as well as among 
the forests. For these services he asked nothing 
but what he could gather from the country itself. 
But he addressed ears which were shut by cupidity. 
The council was divided in opinion. Some favored 
his project, others were opposed to it ; but all con- 
sented that he should be permitted to save their 
colony at his expense and risk, Avhile they were not 
unwilling to share with him the pillage of the sav- 
ages, whatever that might be. We need hardly say 
that their liberality failed to satisfy one who had so 
largely suffered already by their avarice. He quietly 
rejected their offer, and yielded the hope, for a mo- 
ment entertained, of once more triumphing in Vir- 
ginia. " They supposed," says he, " that I spake 
only for my own ends!" In truth, it is the most 
difficult thing for the mere worldling to comprehend 
the generous nature which lies at the bottom, the 
vital principle, of an enterprising genius. '' It were 
good," he a(i<lR, "if they themselves were sent 
thither to make trial of their profound wisdom es." 
** I would not give twenty pound for all the pillage 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 369 

that is to be got among the salvages in twenty 

years." 

The distresses of the colony, and its great expense 
to the proprietors, finally led to its disparagement. 
Estimated by its burdens only, it began to be under- 
valued. Smith answered the aspersions upon the 
colony " in a brief relation, written to his majesty's 
commission." He describes the face of the country, 
its resources, its importance to the crown — the 
feebleness of the savages if properly managed— and 
the true causes of all the distresses under which the 
colony labored ;--all of which he insists could have 
been avoided had his advice been taken. At the 
close of this relation he tells us that he spent five 
years, and more than five hundred pounds, " in pro- 
curing the letters patent and setting forward, and 
neere as much more about New England ; "—that 
"these nineteen yeeres I have, here and there, not 
spared any thing according to my abilitie, nor the 
best advice I could, to persuade how those strange 
miracles of misery could have been prevented, which 
lamentable experience plainly taught me of neces- 
sitie must ensue ; but few would beleeve me, till now 
too dearly they have paid for it. Wherefore, hither- 
to, I have rather left all than undertake impossibili- 
ties, or any more such costly tasks at such charge- 
able rates : for in neither of these two countries have 
I one foot of land, nor the very house Ihuilded, nor 
the ground I digged with my own hands, nor any 
content or satisfaction at all; and tlwugh I see ordi- 
narily those two coimtries shared before me by them 
that neither have them nor hnowes them, hut hy my 
descriptions : yet tJmt doth not so much trotd)le mee 
as to heare and see those contentions and divisions 
which loill hazard if not mine the prosperitie ofVir- 
ainia, if present remedy he not found, as they haA)e 
(lindred many hundreds who have been there ere nowP 



370 LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

The unselfish nature of Smith, here expressed, 
could not be denied, with such proofs of his priva- 
tions and his present readiness still to adventure, 
even with no better encouragement before him. A 
commission had been issued by King James, ad- 
dressed to certain great persons, to examine into 
the condition of the colony, report the transactions 
of the company, and devise a scheme for the remedy- 
ing of evils and abuses. This commission neces- 
sarily had resort to Smith. They propounded to him 
numerous questions, to all of which he answered 
with his usual sagacity. He was better master of 
his subject than any other of his successors, knew 
the country and the' Indians more thoroughly, and, 
indeed, the pathways they had subsequently opened, 
had been only where he had previously made the 
hlaze. To the question, why the colony, left by 
him in a good state of forwardness, had not better 
prospered ; he answered, that " Idleness and care- 
lessness had brought to nothing in six months, what 
he had taken three years to do." When asked, 
" "Why the country, if 'good, should produce nothing 
but tobacco ; " he answered, ^' that the frequent 
change of governors makes every man anxious to 
make the most of his time." As to the cause of the 
massacres and the use of the English weapons by 
the Indians, he ascribes it to the want of martial 
discipline on the part of the English, and their em- 
ployment of the savages as fowlers and huntsmen ; 
twenty thousand pounds outfit, he thinks, would 
have put the colony above hazard, if rightl}^ em- 
ployed ; and a good supply of laborers along with 
the soldiers, at a further cost of five thousand 
pounds, well managed, would remedy the present 
disasters. The defects of the government he as- 
cribes to the multitude of councilors, the number 
and expense of unnecessary oflicers, the delay of ac- 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 3^1 

tion, and the waste of time in ceremonials and for- 
malities — " the orations, disputations, excuses, hopes" 
— the "extortion, covetousness and oppression in 
a few " — and the waste upon governors, deputies, 
treasurers, marshals, and other unnecessary officers, 
of the money which should be appropriated only to 
the necessities of the community. " Thus they 
spend Michaelmas rent in Midsummer moon, and 
would gather their harvest before they have planted 
their corne." Smith concludes with a hint, of which 
James appears to have availed himself ; namety, 
that the government of the colony might, with as 
much propriety, be taken into his own hands, as left 
in those by which it was at present administered. 
In 1624, the Yirginia company was dissolved accord- 
ingly, its powers absorbed in those of the crown, and 
a special commission was issued for the appointment 
of a governor and twelve councilors, who were to 
have the whole management of the colony. 

But, in all these changes, our captain remained 
without employment. We have seen him hurrying 
his interview with Pocahontas, in order that he 
might revisit New England. But the adventure 
failed. He never proceeded on this voyage, but 
lived in a vain struggle with the capitalists, fed for 
a long time upon hopes, that never yielded any bet- 
ter food. Twenty ships were promised him, and a 
promise so magnificent was well calculated to dazzle 
the imagination of one with a faith so sanguine, and 
a passion for enterprise so deeply entertained and 
eager. But with his soul ever in America, his body 
remained in England. If he could not go forth him- 
self, he encouraged all who could do so ; and, work- 
ing to the last in the favorite object of his heart, he 
seems to have continued to write and to publish 
until the latest moment of his life. We have already 
mentioned several of his writings, in 1620, he pub- 



372 I^IFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

lished a pamphlet, entitled **Kew England's Trials, 
declaring the success of twenty-six ships, employed 
thither within these six yeares." A second edition 
of this work, with the title somewhat altered, was 

Eublished two years after. In 1626, he sent forth 
is " General llistorie of Virginia, New England, 
and the Summer Isles, with the names of the Ad- 
venturers, Planters, and Governors, from their first 
beginning. An. 158i, to the present, 1626, etc." To 
this work, of which we have already spoken, we 
have been largely indebted in the progress of our 
biography. In 1630, he published " The True 
Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain 
John Smith in Europe, Asia, Affrica, and America, 
from 1593 to 1629 ; together with a continuation of 
his general Historie of Virginia, Summer Isles, ISTew 
England, and their proceedings since 1624 to the 
present, 1629 ; as also of the new Plantations of the 
great rivers of the Amazons, the Isles of St. Christo- 
pher, Mevis, and Barbadoes in the West Indies." 
In 1631, he put forth his " Advertisements for the 
unexperienced Planters of New England or any- 
where, or the Pathway to Experience, to erect 
Plantations," etc. The volume is a medle}^, con- 
taining many clever things, sometimes marked by 
an epigram, at others by a passage or paragraph of 
force, almost amounting to eloquence, and full, in 
correspondence with his title, of his various expe- 
riences. He was also the writer of a sea grammar, 
which was highly praised by nautical men of his 
day, and which was republished several times after his 
death. Of several of these writings we have Ameri- 
can editions. He was engaged upon a work, called 
" The History of the Sea," when surprised by death 
in 1631. This production seems not to have been 
finished, and the fragment has not survived to our 
day. Smith died at London in the fifty-second year 



LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 373 

of his age. He probably died in obscurity, for none 
of the facts attending his demise remain to us. He 
had survived his uses, at least in the estimation of 
his patrons and the public. That they erred in this 
judgment will not be held a matter of doubt by 
those who have witnessed the proofs, here accumu- 
lated, of his good sense, far-reaching sagacity, and 
great mental activity to the last. Our summary of 
his career and character has already been made. 
That a more fiery spirit, more admirably tempered 
by prudence for the most trying adventure, never 
liVed, will be admitted by all to whom this history 
becomes familiar. That he shared the fate of merit, 
to be neglected after the completion of his tasks, will 
not lessen the value of his performance in the regards 
of posterity. 

Opechaucanough, one of the great Yirginia oppo- 
nents of our Captain, survived him for several years, 
and maintained the same consistent hostility to the 
whites that he had showm at the beginning. In 
1639 he contrived another outbreak of the Indians, 
to which more than five hundred of the colonists 
fell victims. His name became more dreaded than 
that of Powhatan. His resources were greater, and 
he was fully equal to him in dignity and nobleness 
of character. His skill in the government of his 
people at once secured their reverence and affection. 
He subjected the tribes around him far and near, 
and extended greatly the domain of his prede- 
cessor. But his faculties failed with age. He had 
become so decrepit that he ^vas no longer able to 
walk alone, and was carried about in the arms of 
his people. His flesh was emaciated, the sinews so 
relaxed, and his eyelids so heavy, that whenever he 
desired to see, they were lifted by his attendants. 
In this condition he was surprised by Sir William 
Berkeley, the then Governor of Virginia. Thus 



SU LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

feeble, and in bonds, the proud spirit of the savage 
king, and his strong intellect, never failed him. 
Exposed to the rude stare of the multitude, as a 
pubhc show, he had his eyelids raised on the ap- 
proach of Berkeley, and fixing his glance sternly 
upon him, read him a lesson which, if tlie English 
governor possessed any remains of noble sentiment, 
must have made him wince. "Had Sir William 
Berkeley fallen my prisoner," said he, " I should not 
thus meanly have exposed him as a show to my 
people." 

Berkeley designed to send him to England, as a 
royal captive, gracing his government in the eyes of 
his sovereign ; but one of his soldiers, with a scarcely 
greater degree of cruelt}^, defeated this purpose by 
shooting the aged monarch through the back. Thus 
perished, the victim of a base assassin, one of the 
bravest and most sagacious of all the forest mon- 
archs of America. 



THE END. 



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